Stuffed Bell Peppers - Yum!

It's been a while! 
I've been seeing these bell peppers all over Pinterest for a while, and finally had enough ingredients to try them out - and let me tell you, Darling Husband was very impressed!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Prep Time: ~20 min               Cook Time: 10-15 min

INGREDIENTS:

2 - 4 bell peppers, halved & de-seeded

1/2 pound ground beef (I used 97% lean to make it extra healthy)

1/2 large onion, diced

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup refried beans

1.5 tbs minced garlic

1tbs coconut oil

taco / chile seasoning

Cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375. On a large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, place pepper halves upright and drizzle olive oil (or coconut oil) over them and place in the oven for 10-20 minutes (or until peppers are blistering). 

2. (While peppers are in the oven) Sauté diced onions in a tbs of coconut oil until they are soft and browning. Add in ground beef and cook all the way through. Then add in the taco seasoning and stir to combine all the flavors. Finally, add in the beans and the corn. 

3. Cook them for about 5 minutes longer and then remove the pan from heat.

4. Once the peppers are done cooking, take the halves and place them in a casserole dish. Spoon the ground beef mixture into the peppers (the more generous, the better).

5. Sprinkle cheese on top, as much or as little as you would like.

6. Place peppers in casserole dish under the broiler on high until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

7. Remove from the oven and enjoy immediately! 

There are a lot of opportunities to change these up! For example, you could use black / pinto / white beans instead of refried (I just used what I had), and you could use ground turkey instead of ground beef. Next time I make this, I might try to experiment with other veggies that I add in - I'm thinking crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, zucchinis?
I love these because it's easy to sneak in some veggies for the kids (or husbands who refuse to eat them plain)

Enjoy!

Double Double

Have you fashionistas checked out Coast To Coast Challenge yet? If not, you should! Every Tuesday and Thursday they have what they call their "Coast to Coast Challenge" where they give you a prompt and you upload your #ootd (outfit of the day) posts with the hashtag #coasttocoastchallenge and show off what you've got! What I really love about C2C is how they always get me to shop in my own closet and I end up finding tons of new outfits I never even thought of putting together!

This past tuesday's challenge was #doubledouble

Here was my spin on the challenge:

So what did I double? I layered and braided two belts and layered two jackets over my floral dress to make it seasonally appropriate.

 Leather Jacket: Purchased in Italy in 2008 (and yes, it IS one of my most prized possessions because of that reason!), Sweater duster: Trouve brand from Nordstrom, Floral Dress: found at Marshalls, Belts: 1 thrifted & 1 came on another dress I bought, Shoes: Steve Madden from Nordstrom.

 Now where to find my items today? I found a few similar items! Jacket HERE, Sweater Duster HERE (I couldn't really find anything like my Trouve one, but this old navy one is a great length and boyfriend style and is really easy to layer), Dress: HERE (or Ross / Marshalls / TJ Maxx always have great options), Shoes: HERE

Hearty Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Seriously deliciously healthy, and, as always, Gluten & Dairy Free!

I put this picture on my instagram this morning (follow me! @shynnz) and had a few people ask for the recipe! This is a super easy, grab-and-go snack for those I-slept-in-and-don't-have-time-to-make-a-real-breakfast days. 

Prep Time: 8 minutes          Cook Time: 25 - 30 minutes          Only ~75 calories each!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c gluten-free old fashioned oats (if you don't have gluten intolerances, regular oats are just as delicious!)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 c chopped almonds
1/4 c apple sauce
2 c unsweetened almond milk (vanilla almond milk / unsweetened coconut milk / vanilla coconut milk also a possibility)
1/4 c agave maple syrup (or pure maple syrup)
2 c blueberries (I was short on my blueberries, so I added raspberries and strawberries too)
1 egg
2 tbs chia seeds (optional)
coconut flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375* & place liners in muffin tins
2. Combine oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds and berries in a large bowl. 

3. Whisk together applesauce, almond milk, egg, chia seeds and maple syrup in a separate small bowl. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. 

4. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full with batter.
5. Bake at 375* for 25 - 30 min (or until golden brown). 
    - If you want to top yours with coconut as I did, sprinkle the tops of your muffins about 5 minutes before taking them out of the oven
6. Allow to cool, then enjoy! (Make sure you keep them stored in the refrigerator) 
    - If you don't think you'll eat them all within about 5 days, I would definitely suggest freezing the rest and then thawing them as needed!

My husband has been eating these up like crazy! There is no need for any type of sugar (I promise) especially if you use vanilla almond milk, due to the yummy spices and coconut flakes, so the muffins end up only being about 75 calories each and are insanely filling. 
Enjoy 

- Shannon

Breakfast doesn't have to be boring!

Hello readers!

This weekend was spent experimenting in the kitchen with a few recipes and I thought I'd share with you one that my husband (who had admitted he is not a vegetable person) loved! It is kind of a like a strata / frittata egg dish, with lots of protein and vegetables and is really easy to keep in the refrigerator and heat up as needed.  I will say these are great, because you can really manipulate the recipe to add more of what you like and take away what you don't. My dish was super loaded with ingredients, because that is just what my husband likes more, but I have made it with less ingredients and it is still delicious. 
So without further ado, here is a delicious and nutritious (not to mention gluten and dairy free) way to start your day:

Ingredients needed:

8 - 10  eggs (I used 10 of my family's chicken's eggs, but if you're using store bought eggs, 8 should be enough)
1/4 c   almond milk
(I also sometimes add about an 1/8th of a cup of water)
1   brown rice tortilla (If you aren't gluten-intolerant, you can substitute bread or any type of tortilla, or do away with this entirely! I like it because it adds a feeling of "crust")
1 - 2   chicken breasts cooked (I used 2 small, but once again, cater to what you enjoy)
4   pieces of turkey bacon, cooked
1   red pepper
1   head of broccoli (mine yielded about 1.5 - 2 cups)
1/4   of a head of cauliflower
1/8 c   Cheese (I used Go Veggie! Soy cheese)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375* and grease pan. (I used a 9x9 glass square pan, but have also used 8x8 metal pans, round cake pans and 9x13 pans, so once again very customizable to what your needs are)
2. Line the bottom of the pan with the brown rice tortilla (cut to size as needed)
3. Cube chicken breast and line bottom of the pan with chicken cubes.
4. In a seperate fairly large bowl, combine eggs, milk, water, and wisk.

5. Cut up turkey bacon, pepper, broccoli and cauliflower and fold each into egg mixture.
6. Pour eggs, bacon, and veggies over chicken and tortilla and even out the surface using a spatula.

7. Put it into the oven for about 30 minutes.
8. (optional) Sprinkle cheese on top and let it cook for about 10 more minutes - your baking time will depend on your oven, altitude and pan type, but the edges should be golden brown and the middle will be mostly cooked - remember that eggs will continue to cook even after you take them out of the oven!

9. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes and enjoy!

As you can see, my frittata is chock full of yummy goodness, I love seeing all of those colors!
I hope you enjoy this quick and easy recipe! 
Total prep time: 10 min, Total cook time: 40-50min.
Let me know if you tried this out!

Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to the official start of my blog! 

For years, family and friends have been asking me to start one. I love all things fashion (even on a tight budget!) and DIY (do it yourself) projects - in fact my husband and I bought a foreclosure in October of 2011 and have slowly (we are students after all), but surely turned it into a beautiful home. I also have certain dietary restrictions due to health reasons, so I can't eat Dairy or Gluten and am always being asked to share some of my recipes! 

This is a perfect time for me to start this journey - as of March 21st, 2013 I will have been married for 11 months, I am getting ready to wrap up school, and am coming into my own as a person! Do you ever do New Years Resolutions? I usually don't, because I feel like they always end up making you feel bad about yourself, but this year my husband and I decided to make it the best and most positive year we possibly can. This year my main goal is to travel to new places, explore my state more, and to do one new thing a month.

I'm hoping to share with you some of my favorite shopping tips: whether it is clothing, accessories, groceries, or things for the home - I thrift like it's my job // delicious food triumphs ((and failures of course, no filter here)) // our house proud DIY projects // adventures I go on // and anything else awesome that happens. 

Thank you for joining me on this adventure!