Chicken & Feta Pasta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salad Ingredients:

·       Bag or Arugula & Spinach Blend (or just Fresh Spinach)

·       Bowtie Pasta (I Prefer Whole Wheat)

·       Chicken Breast Chopped into Small Pieces

·       Athenos Feta Cheese (Plain or Tomato Basil)

 

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

·       Juice from 1 Lemon

·       Spicy Brown Mustard

·       Sea Salt

·       Fresh Ground Black Pepper

·       Olive Oil

Boil water and add bowtie pasta. While pasta is cooking, toss all salad ingredients into large bowl and set aside. Next mix all ingredients for vinaigrette and whisk for about 1 minute. Pasta should be close to done. When Pasta is done, drain lightly and put into of salad ingredients while still hot. Toss immediately. Add vinaigrette dressing and toss again. Let cool and put into fridge. Let chill overnight and serve cold.

 



Green Juice Recipe

Green Juice Recipe

Photo from: http://spreadlove.org/green-juice-recipe/

1 ½ Cups Purified Water

½ Cup Apple Juice

2 Cups Kale

2 Small Green (or Red) Apples

½ Cup Parsley

½ Medium Cucumber

2 Celery Stalks

¼ inch Piece of Ginger (Peeled)

2-4 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice

2-3 Packets Stevia Powder (about 1-2 Tbsp.)

Blend all ingredients in a blender for about 1 minute or until smooth and pulp like. Drinks as is or I like to strain mine, so I push it through a cloth coffee filter. I purchased mine at Publix Supermarket for $1.29, I squeeze it out till just the pulp is left in the strainer and no more juice is coming out. It does stain the strainer a little, but I scrub it with soap and a dish scrubby and it comes clean rather well. Refrigerate immediately. This will keep for about 2 days, after that, discard. I've tried other green juice recipes and I have to say I like this one the best. It’s pleasant. Finally one that doesn't taste like compost. I will keep this recipe in my files!

 

Yields: 2 Servings

Calories per Serving: 104

 

Cloth Coffee Strainer

 



Low-Calorie Pumpkin Bread

 

I love the fall. I'm a big wimp when it comes to cold weather, but I'd maybe like to try it one day. I don't think I could survive in the snow. One of the joys of the fall I like is pumpkin flavored foods. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice coffee, caramel macchiato coffee! I don't love what the full fat versions do to my waist line.

 

 

Starbucks Tall Caramel Macchiato: 254 Calories

Starbucks Pumpkin Loaf (1 Slice): 390 Calories

Totaling: 644 Calories.

 

I was looking around on Pinterest and I saw a recipe for a low calorie pumpkin bread. I though I might try it. The recipe says the loaf makes 12 slices and it does. Per slice is 228 calories for this recipe. That's a lot lower than 390! I left out the pumpkin seeds and nuts. When I checked it against my fitness pal, each slice this way has 170 calories. Another big difference. I've been eating this with my Caramel Macchiato Iced Coffee that has 105 calories and I really don't know the difference between the full fat and this. Now, it's not exactly the same tasting, but I like it because it's texture is alot less greasy. It's still dense like the full fat loaves and moist. With my big iced coffee (It's great hot too) and a slice of this, the total calories come to 275. That's a savings of almost 400 calories from Starbucks version!!! That's a whole meal. I have had this every day for the 2 weeks and the numbers on the scale haven't moved. I still hate the cold weather, but I can at least still keep my comforts that help me get through it. This is the recipe:

 

Reduced Calorie Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray
3/4 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup soy flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 tsp table salt
2 eggs, large
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar Splenda, packed
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tablespoons unsalted pumpkin seeds

I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees just like it stated and used 1 8x4 loaf pan. I sprayed the pan with cooking spray. I mixed all of the dry ingredients in one bowl and mixed the wet ingredients in another. After I stirred both really well, I added the dry ingredients into the wet about 1/2 cup amount at a time will it was all well mixed. I then poured the mix into my loaf pan and set the timer for 30 minutes. I though this would be a good point to check for doneness. Sometimes my cooking times vary greatly when I find recipes on the web I think due to the climate. This is about at 15 minutes (I had to peek).

 

The picture is fuzzy, I just took it quickly to show a friend in a text. The total time took 38 minutes total with looking to test about 3 times. I'm not much of a baker and I'm watching and timing how things look at certain times so I can learn. I'm so proud of myself for this one. I made bread, be it not a yeast bread yet , but I'm working on a whole wheat, rye, and soy flower bread with carrots and sunflower seeds to replace my ridiculously expensive bread I like from Whole Foods for breakfast in the morning. This is how it looked in the end. Sometimes I will spread some of my smart Balance Light Spread on top of it. adds a few more calories, but it ups the yumminess factor. I put on about a teaspoon. This is the end result with my coffee (and a bite missing =)

 

Overall this recipe is a keeper to me. On the site it says you can leave out the honey to save 51 calories per slice, but I think adding honey to breads makes them taste so much better and help the ingredients stay together better. Sometime the bread can be a little think which means you will have crumbly bread in this case. I think it out with a little vanilla soy milk. They make fairly large slices and 2 on the end were sorta smaller than the others because I didn't measure it to slice it. I just count up the sides 12 spaces and get a rough idea how big each slice should be. It think it's a substantial snack and eat it in the late afternoon with my almond milk iced coffee. It's very filling and I have no problem lasting till my night meal with no in between hunger. It's a real treat during the autumn months.



TKB Trading Haul #1

These are old posts from my old blog to the new. This one was from back in October of 2010!

I had to keep it. It was my first TKB Trading order. I've purchased more TKB Trading pigments since 2012...haha...so a TKB Trading Pigment Collection Post is in works for the future. I have some other eyeshadows I have made posts about too. Check them out under: Archives --> Makeup

 This is the old post:


I finally decided to try some of the mica's from TKB Trading. I thought it might be fun to mix my own eyeshadow and boy was I right! I bought a few fillers and some colored mica's. I took some photos of swatches with the colors I bought:

(Left to Right)

Sparkle White and Travels to Pluto



 

Sparkle White is a very light mica, very airy I guess I would say. Here in the picture, I applied it very thick so it will show in the picture. I sometimes in the winter do a grey and black Smokey eye and this would be pretty for the highlight- it's like glistening snow. I don't have the pleasure of snow where I live but I have been able to visit it once. Applied lightly, it gives a white kinda glistening appearance. Not like glitter but shimmery with little shimmers. It has a slight silver tone to it when applied lightly (very slight) and more silver tone with a thinker application. I like the fact that it's shiny and glimmery but not "glittery". It's a cool tone and the overall appearance on my medium yellow toned skin tones it down slightly without me looking washed out. Gorgeous!

Travel to Pluto is one from their "travels to" collections. This one is interesting. It looks in the container to have a very slight pinky tinge to it. It looks bright, glimmery white and when I swatched it and looked straight down it was white with a greenish slightly blue tint. When I looked at it from the side angle, the green sheen "traveled to" a soft pink iridescence. It's iridescent and not a complete color change as it looks white at whatever angle but it has a different sheen at different angles. I don't know what I'm going to do with this one. I might mix it with some of the colors I bought to see what comes out. I suspect it will lighten whatever color I'm using because it is so "think" white and not very, very sheer. I'm not sure so I have to try it and see what I get.

 

(Left to Right)

Apricot, Sparkle Rose, and Scorpio the Eighth

 These are my more "pink" and "gold" colors I opted for. Apricot is a very light, peachy gold. It kinda has a very slight pinky color but I would say it is more peachy and definitely more of a gold color. When swatched either lightly or heavy this color has a golden slightly peach color. It's very light and very pretty! I think I'll use it as a highlight or mix it with other colors to lighten and have a gold-ish undertone.

Sparkle Rose is wow! It's on the darker pink side- like a blushy color. Would be beautiful in a mix for bronzer or blush. It's FDA approved for all applications and is also going to make a beautiful lip color. I'll mix it in eyeshadows too. This one is definitely more of a pinky, peachy, golden color. Applied lightly it's gorgeous for eyes as the pink is not as dark as it looks in the bottle. I'll buy this one again when it runs out, very versatile color.

Scorpio the Eighth is an interesting one. It looks kinda pink/mauve in the bottle and when it's swatched fairly thickly. Then as it thins out it has a slightly light reddish orangey tint to it. When it's thinly applied it has a shimmery violet fuchsia like color with hints of peachy orange and red. Very interesting indeed. This one I think (and I'm not sure- I haven't researched all that well as to what the difference between micas and iron oxides are and what effects they have on skin) might have a bit more iron oxide in it as it- I wouldn't say "stain"- kinda leaves a dark color under the shimmer. I washed my arm after I did the swatches with soap and water the Apricot and Sparkle Rose washed right off where this one I had to scrub it a little bit- not alot but I had to put more arm power in it where it wasn't harsh. This is very pretty and an interesting one indeed.

 

(Left to Right)

Glimmer Beige, Australian Amber, and Gold Reflects

 Glimmer Beige is absolutely Gorgeous! (So is Australian Amber) It is a light browny color with gold overtone. I'm going to try to add this to nail polish! Gap made a nail polish a few years ago that I wish I bought in bulk and stored in the back of the fridge called Sandstone. They stopped making it and I dragged my bottle out as long as I could. It was a neutral brown/gold colorthat was absolutely fantastic on my skin. It's one that when I put it on, my hands and feet like almost instantly looked tanner. It was a subtle brown with a golden tone to it. This very much resembles it. Thinly swatched it has more of a gold color than brown but with a slightly heavier hand it has that slight brown to it. More on the sparkly side I would say than shimmery. You definitely sparkle when the afternoon sun hits it. I might add some to a small amount of body lotion to put on after a day at the beach. Very Pretty- on my reorder list- probably forever!

Australian Amber is another one I just fell in love with. It has the same golden glimmery effect like the Glimmer Beige does but the brown is more pronounced. It my picture it looks really brown but applied lighter it's softer in brown color. It's like glimmery cappuccino throft. Very nice neutral glimmery brown.

The last one in this set is Gold Reflects. I thought it might add more glimmer than glitter to some of my matte eyeshadows and oxides I bought and it does just that. It's like Sparkle White as far as the consistency goes but a little more "airy". I opened the baggie and gold was wafting through the air. A slight breeze will send little specks in the air. I tried it mixed with a store bought mineral shadow I already have and it just completely brought it to life. One possible draw back though? It's very light and takes flight very easily and when I took off my makeup that night it seemed to be all gone. The next morning when I was driving,- I didn't put on eyeshadow that day- I looked at my eyes while the sun was shining in my face and WOW I was gold glittery. It made a nice look so I kept it there but it doesn’t seem like it's going to be easy to come off with just a swipe of eye makeup remover (Clinique Take Off The Day) and a light washing, this you might have to apply a little abrasion like a wash cloth to get it all off. Still it's pretty.

 

Last set of colors:

(Left to Right)

Swiss Chocolate, Cypress Green, Black Amethyst, and Patagonia Purple

These are darker colors for "Smokey Eyes". I have yet to find a shade of green and purple that I think look good on me. I have green eyes and all the green I try seem like it's "too much green" with my eyes and the purples that are popular are more for cooler skin tones or more than likely it's just me and think they are too bright- so I'm going to make my own and see if I can't be happy that way. Too bright green (like this one straight, I plan on mixing it) even if it mix it seems to look too "muddy" to me and doesn't give my eyes that "pop". I did mix a little purple with some darker colors and found an "eggplant" kind of shade that really helps my eyes stand out. I'll talk about that in a minute.

Swiss Chocolate is a very dark brown/dark bronze shimmery color. It's another really pretty one. I'll probably use this one by itself and mix it with other colors as well. Glimmery Espresso!

Cyprus Green. This green has Ferric Ferrocyanide in it. I looked it up because I was apprehensive to put anything with the word cyanide in it on my face. The FDA approves it for eyes, nails, face, ect. but Not On Lips. Evidently it's not good to ingest it directly by mouth. It's used to create "Persian Blue" in combination with Ferric Chloride, a popular dye in most cosmetics and other applications. It was evidently discovered by accident and was instantly popular as artists had yet to discover a really bright blue at the time this was discovered. It is also used as an antidote for certain heavy metal poisonings?!?! Well, who knew. But still don't put it in your mouth or around it. It still kinda bothers me, if I shouldn't put it around my mouth- why should I put it around my eyes? I'm not too sure about this one- but it is beautiful. What we women do in the name of beauty. Evidently it's safe everywhere but around or in your mouth. Bright green lipstick isn't for me anyway so I play with it, I don't think I'll wear it daily though. Alice's words from Disney's version of Alice in Wonderland swirl in my head "For if one drinks much from a bottle marked poison," . I think I'll have to take her very good advice she seldom listens to and only use this sparingly and only once in a while. Anyway, it's gorgeous! Forest Shimmer Green. I mixed it with some other colors and I'll put the picture below. I call it Green Sand Beach, Hawaii. That's what it reminds me of- the sand on this beach is a green color because of the chemicals in lava flowing into the ocean. The sand looks brownish green "olive green". Here is an example of the sand from Papakōlea Beach, Hawaii

 

Not my hands holding this beautiful sand

Black Amethyst is a pretty purple that reminds me of "eggplant" shades. It appears they have a dark undertone and the purple almost sits on top of it. This is a purple that does NOT have the Ferric Ferrocyanide in it and I feel better about it. Not as purple as:

Patagonia Purple is intense purple. not as bright as the Grape Pop they sell but it's still pretty bright (for me anyway). This purple is more of a true amethyst color- shimmery royal purple. Shimmer, Shimmer, Shimmer! It does contain Ferric Ferrocyanide so not on the lips. Oh, Alice will you stop sounding your voice of reason and safety in my ears. I got it- Not on my lips, use sparingly and only once in a while. Maybe it’s more of a violet color. I still think light royal purple. Anyhow- it's lovely.

I'll have to try some looks soon (Pictures Below with the Purple I mixed- I called it Haze), these are two I mixed on the fly just to see what I could make:

Same colors but sorta muted. Green Sand Beach, Hi and I don't know about the other one yet. I have to find something that’s as pretty and purple as this. TKB Micas Are Wonderful. They do give you a good lot and they sell tall profile jars to store them in but I opted out of that. They are $10.99 to ship 70 of them plus their cost of $40.00. I was going to go in halves with a friend but I found these. They are $8.99 not including the tax. I used a coupon for 40% off. There is 6.5% sales tax where I live so my final price for 12 jars was $5.75 including tax. Roughly $.49 a piece. They are made for bead storage and I shook the green to see how much would collect in the groves. It does but I wouldn’t say anymore than the 5g or 3g jars used for eyeshadows. And they have a clear case to keep them contained and not just loose containers in your container. I cut the label off the baggies that the micas came in and wiped off the backs. I laid them down flat and covered the top with a piece of clear shipping tape and trimmed it to where it would fit the side of the bottle. It’s not very eye appealing, but I’ll never remember what ingredients are in them and which purple has the Ferric Ferrocyanide in it. 


That’s this round of TKB Trading pigments and micas. Shipping was $3.00 and I received it in about 4 days from the day I placed my order. I’m very pleased with TKB Trading and the micas they offer. I’m already planning another one! Thanks for looking and I hope this helps someone who wants to see pictures of TKB Trading's micas!

Addition 10/8/2010

Some pictures I took using Patagonia Purple I mixed with some of the other colors I bought. What should I name it? I added matte brown in my crease to blend it out and soften the edges. Maybe just Haze. And I should have put on mascara too =)

It's a light, almost dirty purple but the pictures don't do the shadow justice. It has little bits of gold sparks in it too.

10/20/2012:
I'll put up a post on my TKB Trading Pigments Collection that I have started since I first made this post soon.

 



Urban Decay My Summer of Love Palette

Source: makeupgeek.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Made using colors in Urban Decay Summer of Love Palette: Chopper on inner half of eye, Smog on outer lid and crease, and Maui Wowie on inner corner & inner lower lash line.

All of these colors come in the Urban Decay Summer of Love Palette. I really like the packaging of this palette and the eyeshadows themselves. The eyeshadows are true to the Urban Decay standards. My set came with a travel size Primer Potion in Sin and a 24/7 liner in Bourbon. This is a palette that I take with me alot when on summer trips:

Unfortunately they no longer sell this palette, but it can be found on e-bay. All of these colors come in the Ammo Palette also. This eye look is fantastic when you have a tan. Will be using this palette alot this summer. Another beef I have with you Urban Decay is discontinuing you cream eyeshadows. I love the color Suburbia:

I guess it wasn't a popular seller. I hope they are just reformulating it and plan to reintroduce new and improved cream eyeshadows?!?! I hope Suburbia would be included in it too...*wink* *wink* @ Urban Decay =)

*photos contain the links



                                  

Color Tattoo 24hr by Maybelline EyeStudio

Bad to the Bronze

(Photos taken on sunny morning natural light but not direct sunlight)



Without Flash