Pinterest Challenge - Day 6 - Lasagna Pasta Pies

Day 6 Pinspiration: Click here to see my pin

My Lasagna Pasta Pies:

Ingredients: 

• 1 package biscuits
• 1lb sausage
• ~1/2 jar pasta sauce
• 1 cup uncooked noodle
• shredded mozzarella

Heat oven to 350°F. Cook and drain pasta as directed. Meanwhile, in skillet, cook Italian sausage until no longer pink; drain. Stir in pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese and pasta; cook 1 minute.

Meanwhile separate dough into 8 biscuits; press each biscuit to 5 1/2-inch round. Firmly press 1 biscuit in bottom and up side of each of 8 ungreased jumbo muffin cups, forming 1/4-inch rim. 

Fill with sausage mixture; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from pan. Top with Parmesan cheese.

I love this recipe because its delicious and it uses basic ingredients that I usually already have around the kitchen, no need to run to the grocery store, perfect!

I cooked more than a cup of pasta for this recipe so I could save some and use later for another batch or a different recipe.

Pinterest Challenge- Day 5 - Golden Smokey Eye

Day 5 Pinspiration: Click here to see my pin

 My Golden Smokey Eye:

Ok I have now learned that my camera sucks and the lighting is horrible in my bathroom, so sorry everyone for the last couple of pics that are dark and fuzzy. Anyway I pretty much followed this tutorial for this look however I used less of the gold and more black on my eyes.

Also they show just a dark black eye shadow for the dark parts, I took it a step further by lining my eyes with heavy black pencil liner all the way acros top and bottom lids and then taking a smodger brush (you could use a small defined brush if you dont have a smudger) and smudging up the liner the whole way across my eyes on both lids but really focusing on bringing out the liner on the outer edges of the eye. then split my eye in half like they did and did one side gold and one side black, I used a darker gold color in between to blend the two shades together.

dotted line showing how much to smudge out eyeliner

So here's my finished product, sorry again that its so dark and cant really see much. But I was really happy with the way it turned out. I think the dramatic eye paired great with the simple bun from my last post.

Pinterest Challenge - Day 4- The Fun Bun

Day 4 Pinspiration: Click here to see my pin

 

My Fun Bun:

 

I tried to follow the steps as shown in the pins above but unfortunately the example shown doesn't work well for shorter hairstyles so I had to improvise. I also have bangs so I chose to leave those out of the updo. So if you have shorter hair follow my steps:

1. Just as seen above pull your hair into a tight pony either on the top of your head or just pretty high. 
2. In the above tutorial she said if you have straight hair curl ends before putting in the ponytail but I found it much easier to curl after the pony tail. so after up in a pony divide your hair in 1/2 upper and lower sections and curl the ends of the upper portion up toward your face and curl the ends under and back toward the ponytail. The bottom sections of hair curl toward base of neck and curl the ends under and back toward the ponytail. This will help the hair form the bun shape. 
3. Divide the top 1/2 of the hair you curled into right and left sides. Take the right section and loop the ends in toward the pony tail and bobby pin the section so it starts to form the bun loop. Pin the hair tighter and smaller loop then you want so you can reshape a little later. Repeat with the left side and divide bottom 1/2 of hair into right and left and pin sections just light top 1/2 of the bun.
4. Once all your hair has been formed into the bun shape, pull gently on the hair to spread it out so there are no open spots present in the bun and the bun is the size you want.
5. Top off with hairspray and your done!

Pinterest Challenge - Day 3 - Fridge Mats

Day 3 Pinspiration: Click here to see my pin

My DIY Fridge Mats:

I hate cleaning out the shelves in my fridge (actually just cleaning in general), so this cleaning tip suggests to line the shelves in your fridge with plastic place mats, something spills or liner gets dirty just take it out and rinse off in the sink SUPER EASY!

 

When I went looking for a cute place mat that would work for my fridge I had a hard time. Didn't seem like there were to many decorative options available in plastic place mats mostly just kid decorated kinds but I ended up finding some plaid neon plastic place mats at Walmart that would work well enough. I got two green for the shelf in the bottom of my fridge and two blue for the fridge drawers. It was so quick and easy to cut the mats to fit and I think it turned out pretty good for a project that cost me $4.

Pinterest Challenge - Day 2 - Plyo Pilates

Day 2 Pinspiration: Click here to see my pin

From Fitness Magazine, 20 minute workouts

My Plyo Pilates:

Butterfly: 16 reps X 2 (see picture above)
     Targets: Abs, butt, hamstrings, inner and outer thighs

1. Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, toes turned outward 45 degrees and arms extended out to sides at shoulder level, palms down.
2. Bend knees until thighs are parallel to floor and lower arms so that wrists cross in front of hips.
3. Then straighten legs and raise arms above head. Repeat. 

Bend and Stretch: 10rep X 2
     Targets: Shoulders, back, abs, butt, thighs, and calves

1. Start in downward dog: Get on all fours on mat, tuck toes under and press hips up to form an inverted V.
2. Then bend at the knees and tuck buttock under, hold for 1 count and roll back up into downward dog. 

 Genie: 10 reps (each side) X 2
     Targets: Arms, abs, obliques, butt, and thighs

1. Lunge one leg out to the side , toes pointing away from body, other leg straight. Press palms together overhead with elbows bent about 90 degrees out to sides (like a genie).
2. Keeping hips squared, side bend at waist toward bent leg.
3. Next, reach with extended arms and torso toward bent leg. Hold for 1 count, then pull torso back and bend elbows to return to side-bend start position.

Kneeling Leg Circle: 10 clockwise & 10 counterclockwise (each side) X 2
     Targets: Shoulders, back, abs, butt, inner and outer thighs

1. Kneel on mat, extend  leg out (toes on mat) and side bend at waist to place other palm on mat near knee knee.
2. Lift foot off mat with toes slightly turned out; with leg, slowly draw 10 large clockwise circles, then 10 counter-clockwise circles.

Alternate V-Sit Roll: This move was to much for me, I chose to just move into V-sit and hold for 1 minute.
     Targets: Abs, obliques, lower back

1. Sit on mat with knees bent, feet flat and arms by sides.
2. With knees bent, lift feet off mat until shins are nearly parallel to floor and lean torso back 45 degrees into V-sit; extend arms forward.
3. Roll onto side and extend arms and legs out, return to center. Repeat on other side. 

I know its bad but I don't exercise regularly so this was a good launching platform for me. Not to hard but definitely had me feeling it the next day, especially in my low abs and thighs. 

Pinterest Challenge - Day 1 - Pernil Pork

Day 1 Pinspiration: Click here to see my pin

My Pernil Pork:

The original recipe was based on a 3 lb pork loin. Way to much food my just me and Ryan so I cut the recipe in half. What you'll need for the halved portion:

• 1 1/2 lb pork loin
• 2 cloves garlic (I used pre chopped garlic)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 bungle of cilantro, chopped (Not in original recipe, but I had some I needed to use)
• 1 Tbsp oregano, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground ancho chile pepper (I didnt have any so added red pepper flakes instead)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1Tbsp lime juice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Mix together garlic, oregano, cumin, chili pepper (or red pepper), salt, black pepper, olive oil, white wine vinegar and lime juice.

Place the pork into the slow-cooker and sprinkle the onion all around the pork loin. Spread the mixture of spices all over the top of the pork. Close the lid and set timer on low to cook for about 8 hours.

Once the meat is ready, place loin into a bowl and with two forks shred up the meat. I served mine as Mexican style pulled pork burritos. So delicious and easy to make, will definitely add this to my recipe box!

Pinterest Challenge

Like many young women, Ive been a pinterest-a-holic for some time now. Often I find myself combing page after page looking at cute pictures of funky outfits, beautiful houses, delicious food, and crafty DIY projects. I save these pretties to boards and keep on looking. The other day I finally asked myself, Melanie are you ever going to do any of those things that you pin? Probably not....

 

Pinterest in Action:

My time and energy is precious and I should focus my efforts on productive things, but I'm to hooked to say goodbye now! So instead of saying no more to pinning, I've decided to turn it into a real world effort to improve my home, closet, kitchen and life! My next 30 posts will all be focused around ideas or inspiration I found on Pinterest.

Day 1-30 Blogs:

1. Pernil Pork 
2. Pylo Pilates 
3. Fridge Mats 
4. The Fun Bun 
5. Golden Smokey Eye
6. Lasagna Pasta Pies
7. DIY French Manicure (Busted) 
8. Freezer Breakfast Burritos 
9. Jean Jacket 
10.  Lazy Girl Workout
11. Squash Apple Bake 
12.  Denim and Leggings
13. Honey Sugar Face Scrub 
14. Homemade Pita Chips 
15.  Kitchen Wall Storage
16. How to cut a pineapple 
17. Kabocha Squash Curry 
18.