Loaded Jalepeno Poppers

Chances are you've had a bacon wrapped jalepeno popper before. Over the years they seem to becoming more and more popular.  I love them because they are super delicious....but also low carb!

They are one of my go to dishes when I'm going to a BBQ or potluck because everybody loves them but they are still in line with my way of eating.  It's very rare to find a "diet" food that's also a crowd pleaser....so when you find it you gotta hold onto it!

The basic recipe for these bacon wrapped jalepeno poppers is just cream cheese stuffed inside half a jalepno and then wrapped in bacon.  While this is definitely delicious and I would never turn it down....I think it can be improved upon.

When I was making them one day I decided to clean out my fridge a little in the process.  I threw in minced cilantro, chopped green onion, and garlic powder in with my softened cream cheese....but basically you could throw in whatever you want.  That's what makes them "loaded"

Some other ingredients I've used in the past is:

Cheddar cheese (or any cheese for that matter)

Diced olives

Fine diced ham

Chorizo

Italian sausage

Green chilies (for a double chile kick)

Roasted bell peppers

....the list could go on forever!

Just mix anything you want with one package of softened cream cheese and stuff it inside a seeded jalepeno half.  I find medium sized peppers work best

Another thing I do different than most recipes I've seen is that I use half a slice of bacon per half popper where as other recipes have you cut your bacon in thirds.  1/3 of a slice just isn't enough bacon for me.  I like to make sure the whole thing is covered.  I only do a 1/3 piece if my peppers happen to be really small.....but that's entirely up to you.  Are you a halfy or a thirdy?

Wrap the bacon around your stuffed pepper half and secure with a toothpick.  Place on a wire rack that is placed over top a baking sheet to catch all the bacon grease.  This way your popper won't be sitting in the grease and it will be able to render and get crisp as well as cook more evenly with the heat going completely around it

Bake at 375 for about 30-35 minutes depending on how crisp you want your bacon.  After 30 minutes of torture you'll get a nice big plate of deliciousness like this

They may not be the prettiest things in the world but who the heck cares when they taste this good

Now go do yourself a favor and go make these suckers.  You'll be killing two birds with one stone....a delicious snack AND cleaning out your fridge in the process.  How's that for productivity??
 

Wardrobe Wednesday- Basics with a Pop

So I think I've finally pin pointed my "style"....if you want to call it that. I've never felt the need to define my style before....but I think I'm just noticing what it is I do so now I can sort of put a label on it

I definitely tend to lean towards basics and neutrals.  The kinds of things that can very easily be mixed and matched and kept for years on end without going out of style. Nothing too trendy.

Because of this I don't have many pieces that are crazy prints.  While I totally admire girls that can pull off busy prints and bright colors on a daily basis....I also accept that I am not one of those girls

I prefer to wear basics/neutrals with maybe one thing that sort of pops.  I'm still working on using jewelry as that "pop"....and actually I'm still sucking at it.  Still not my thing.  For my it's easier to use other accessories as your "pop"  Like shoes, a cardigan, or a scarf. Accessories are also an easier way to incorporate things that are  more trendy without spending as much money or taking as much as a risk as it would be with a larger piece

Here's a perfect example

Boyfriend T: Target
Jeans: Charlotte Russee
Leopard cardigan: Thrifted
Black Ked Style Tennies:Walmart
Leopard Tennies: Walmart

Very basic top and jeans...but with two different spins on the pop of interest.  The left is for those of you that don't live in an oven like me.  A cardigan just isn't practical here in AZ because it NEVER cools down.  Not even at night. 

The outfit on the right is much more realistic for me....but not nearly as cute in my opinion.  Since I can't wear the cardigan without suffering heat stroke and my brain melting...I swapped out leopard tennies instead of the plain black

So yea....my style seems to be basics with one interesting item. Except I may have just blown that entire theory with this one single quote

Yup.....I have to agree with this one.  In that case my theory is out....it is now just an outfit made up solely of neutrals.  So much for that lol


How would you define your style?  Let me know!

Happy {Wardrobe} Wednesday!

DIY Pre Pregnancy Pack

So my seester Kinsey just got married June 6th.  So she hasn't even technically been married a month yet.....but we're already trying to get her knocked up.

Ok so maybe "we" was the wrong word to use....the actually pregnation if you will is of course left to her new hubby

But I am doing what I can to help the effort!

For her birthday (just about a week after her wedding) I made her a Pre Pregnancy Pack.  Basically all the essentials she would need from conception and into pregnancy

Included was: Ovulation tests, pregnancy tests, hemorrhoid towelettes, cream, and cooling packs, antacids, cocoa butter cream, cocoa butter lotion, saltines, anti nausea liquid, saltines, pickles,  and the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting"

If I didn't know for certain that she had just bought herself prenatals I most definitely would have included those as well

And the cool thing about this pack is you could just take out the ovulation and pregnancy tests and it works out perfectly for a woman who is already pregnant

I put it all together in a basket and also included a stylish barf bucket (if barf buckets can even be stylish?)

The barf bucket ( like the one I made my friend going through chemo) is just a cheap trash can covered in printed duct tape.  Both our older sisters were pretty sick when they were pregnant.  One of them always got stuck in traffic because there was only one way in and one way out of her suburb city and it would be backed up for miles.  She spent many evenings opening her car door and yaking on that road lol Poor thing!

Too bad I was only 16 at the time and not as thoughtful.....she could have really used a nice travel barf bucket back then ;)

Anywho....my mom wasn't a huge fan of the gift when I showed her.  She was like.....'Why??"  Now I get it.....if somebody gave this gift to me......it would totally be annoying....because we aren't anywhere near trying to have kids right now.  It would come off as super pushy.  They on the other hand are trying so I don't think it's (as) annoying. She also said that maybe I should have only given her one or two things from the basket and then given her a gift she ACTUALLY wanted...say whaaaaat? Oh well....it wasn't for my mama anyway! haha

So here's hoping this stuff will help her get knocked up.  Get a bun in that oven. Kill the rabbit.  Get that eggo preggo. Make her eat for two

MoMo Monday- The Other Side of MoMo

So if you follow MoMo Monday at all I'm sure you're used to seeing the sweet precious Mo like this:

But there's the other side of Mo you don't see.  Like this ATTACK MOMO!!!

And scary MoMo!!

Soo ferrocious!!!!


Or she  might be sneezing.  But ya know.....you better watch out just in case!  ;)

DIY Dyed Shoes

Let's jump right to it....

When I saw these plain white shoes at Walmart for the low price of $4.44...or something crazy awesome like that I had to have them

I walked around the store for about 40 minutes trying to decided which style I wanted.  You would have thought I was making a major life decision....but I ended up choosing the Keds style.

Pick out your color dye.  I chose yellow for a very specific reason....you'll see why in a future post

Start by  saturating the shoes with water.  This will help them to soak up the dye more evenly

Follow your directions on your dye bottle....which mostly likely means bringing  a big pot of water to boil with your dye

Add your shoes

I found that flipping the shoes over gave them the opportunity to dye most evenly in my pot.  But depending on the size you have you may need to do one shoe at a time

Once they reach the shade you desire, take them out and rinse them well under cool running water

I set mine outside to dry... and that's it!

Here's a picture of the finished shoes in the middle....next to a similar style store bought red pair.  Not too bad for a DIY dye job. Now I want to make a pair in every color

Stay tuned for more about these shoes in the future

10 Fashion Trends I Just Can't Get On Board With

Now let me start off this post by saying this....I'm no fashion expert.  I don't claim to be one.  So if as you're reading this post you come cross something that you yourself wear on a daily basis and you're thinking...."Whose this broad?  Who the hell does she think she is?"  The answer is: Nobody.  Yep....I'm nobody.   So before you get your panties in a twist and leave me some pissed of comments about how you KNOW you look daayum fine in your high waisted shorts....think of this.  I'm just a girl (in the wooooorld: bonus points if you know what I'm referring to) sharing a few of my current fashion irks.   Come on.....you know you have some yourself!

And I'm a never say never kind of gal.  So I'm completely aware and open to the idea that somebody out there could probably rock the shit out of some of these looks.  I just know I will most likely never be one of those people.

In the words of   The Peas.....Let's get it started!

High Waisted Shorts

Well I already mentioned it in my preface so I might as well get to the high waisted shorts first.  I just don't get it.  Why would you willingly wear mom jeans?  You know....the ones that make your butt as flat as a Plasma TV and pockets that go on for miles.  I just don't see the allure....which may seem odd seeing how just last week I posted that I bought a high waisted bikini.  I don't know....something about the bikini seems more retro and cute where as the denim shorts just scream MOM ASS.  Am I the only one who sees a huge difference between the two?

And acid washed....

And the absolute WORST of the WORST is the extra puffy/baggy in the pelvic area ones that are rolled.  Uuugggghhhh!!!!'

Why?????

Crop Tops

We get it....you have a flat stomach (at least you really should if you wear this) but damn....is it really necessary to only wear half a shirt? I feel like it just screams LOOK AT ME!

And just to make matters worse they always seemed to be paired with those god forsaken shorts

I think this particular combination of shirt (well....half shirt if you want to get technical) and shorts is more annoying to me right now because I just got back from Disneyland and unfortunately 2 of the 3 days I was there were Grad Nights.  All I saw was a sea of this same outfit on every 3 out of 5 teenage girls.  Mom jeans and Clueless shirts as far as the eye could see.  And lots of VERY loud overly projected fake laughing....and lots of flirt punching......but that's another story.

Daisy and Sunflower Print Everything

I remember how in the first grade I thought my sunflower tshirt was the bomb.  Fast forward 19 years and I hate it all.

And look at this disaster....a terrible combination of EVERYTHING I have mentioned so far.  A triple threat!

I had just googled and saved some daisy clothing images when I ran up to Kohls to buy some work paints.  Low and behold they had a whole rack of daisy crap for me to snap pictures of

Grab one in every color while you can! ;)

Birkenstocks

I can't look at these things without thinking of my mother.  She lived in these things when I was little.  She even bought me a pair and I wore them before I knew any better.  I'm sure they're great for your feet like they claim....good arch support and such.....but I just can't get down with the look!

A few months ago my friend Jade sent me an article on Facebook about how they were making a comeback.  She said "Look Wheet! Your mom is in style"   Well I  guess my mother is more fashionable than me....cuz I just can't do it.

 Now even fashion and style bloggers I love are wearing these new metallic ones

And as much as I normally respect thier taste.....Gaaaah!  I can't bring myself to like it even a little bit

Have you noticed a pattern so far??  Yea....me too.  It's all 90s styles coming back and apparently they just don't work well for me.  The only thing to come out the 90s that I still love is flannel and the music.

Pulling us out of the 90s.....

Galaxy Print Crap

Who decided this was a good idea? And how did some many people jump on the bandwagon?

I'd rather not look like a science project

Harem Pants

I've actually never seen this trend on somebody in person.  I think this one is still sort of "out there" for most people and not very mainstream....BUT....I've seen my fair share of it on fashion blogs.  Enough to make me shudder

This look barely worked for Aladdin and it didn't work out too well for MC Hammer either......just sayin.

Wedge Sneakers

My friend Niki said it perfectly about these shoes.  They're like a BAD cross between moon boots and a medical boot.  Yeesh!

Too many velcro-y strips that look like bandages for my taste.  And I can't look at them without thinking of Kanye West.....and he annoys me too.  How ironic

Palazzo Pants

I'm just seeing these pants really take off and I just don't love them

They're like the 2014 version of the 2005 Gaucho pant craze.  Which I sadly took part in when I was entirely too fat to wear such thin cloth over my gigantic ass at the time (but that's another story)

I think there's two main reasons why I don't love them

1. They almost always seem to come in crazy busy prints.  I tend to have a much more neutral and basic oriented style using accessories as the pop of color or interest.  There is just waaaaay too much going on in these pants for me 

2. I don't find the style and cut to be very flattering.  I feel like you have to be stick skinny to pull this off.  You might think that since they are so flowy and roomy that it would be good for camouflaging..... but I think it does just the opposite.  A skinny girl wearing flowy stuff is fine because you know it's just a loose fit and that under all that is a skinny little body.  A bigger body in this type of style to me makes it look as if you are trying super hard to cover yourself up....thus making it seem like you are bigger than you really are.  Does that make any sense to anyone else??

I will say though....if I ever find a pair at a super amazing clearance price I would totally buy them and wear them as house pants or to bed.  I can't deny that they do look amazingly comfortable

Peter Pan Collars

There are 3 reasons I don't like this whole collar action

1. They are usually attached to an already frumpy frock of some sort

when did frumpy school girl become a cute look?

2. Or they make what would otherwise be a cute outfit ugly.  Like these....take away the collar I would like it 

the collar just ruins it for me

3. They look about as comfortable as a noose.  I don't like crap all up in  my neck and throat.  Makes me feel like I'm suffocating

Lucky for us they even make Peter Pan Collar necklaces so you can frumpify and outfit as you see fit ;) No sewing necessary

And don't even get me started on the lace doily ones!

Rompers

I almost didn't even include this one....cuz I actually don't hate it.  In fact I like it enough that I've tried them on a handul of times but it ALWAYS ends badly.  I think I've finally learned and accepted that it just isn't going to happen

I also realized that it isn't just me.  I think it requires a very specific body type to pull it off.  You need to be skinny and have the right torso to leg ratio.  Any one of those three being off a little bit can throw the entire look off.

Very few girls can pull this look off successfully in my opinion, but those few that do are what kept making me try and try again.  

Like look at Lauren Conrad....it looks great on her!

And Nicole and Blake look good too

 

The rest of us just look like we're wearing a giant printed adult diaper. I wish I had pictures of the monstrosity that is me wearing one.  It's bad.....real bad!

Here's some not so good ones....

 

Well there ya have it folks....10 trend I just can't get on board with.  What trends do you wish would go away?  Are any of these on your list?