NRW: Spinach & Bacon Quiche

This weeks recipe isn't one of my own, but one by the person my friend calls "Everyone's White, Southern Grandmother", Paula Deen! I promise you this recipe is easy and delicious and good for any night of the week!

Spinach & Bacon Quiche

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 large eggs, beaten  
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream  
• Salt and pepper  
• 2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed 
• 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled  
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese  
• 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender. Layer the spinach, bacon, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. Cut into 8 wedges.

~HG

Back-to-School Makeup

So last night was my first night back to school after an 8 month hiatus. I took time off in January because I was preparing for the wedding and just couldn't deal with school/wedding/work all at the same time. Well I woke up Tuesday with butterflies and dread. See, I had to sign up to take Human Growth and Development, which I've taken in College, and attempted to take last fall, only to have to withdraw from school in early November. It was booorrriiinnnnggg. So, to get my self in the groove of things, I put together a new back to school look that I'm going to keep. It's pretty neutral except for the lid color, which is the only color I will change up. It's light, and natural, and I love the way the sun reflected off of it. What do you think:

Loves it! Here's what I'm wearing:

FACE:
- Bobbie Brown Oil-Free Even Finish Foundation in Almond (7)
- Cinema Secrets concealer palette in #201-67B
- MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Dark
- MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Northern Light (to highlight under eye/above cheek bone, forehead, nose, and chin).

EYES:
- Paint Pot in Indianwood (allover)
- MAC E/S Off The Page (on lid)
- MAC E/S Brown Script (in the crease)
- MAC E/S Handwritten (outter/corner crease)
- MUFE Aqua Creamliner in #2 (line top and lower lids)
- Diorshow Iconic mascara

CHEEKS:
- MAC Blush in Slave to Love mixed with...
- MAC Blush in Blushbaby

LIPS:
- MAC Creamstick Liner in 80%
- MAC Lustre Lipstick in Lovin It
- MAC 3D Glass in Synched Up

I set the makeup with MUFE Mist & Fix

~HG

NRW: Slow Cooker Smothered Chicken

This recipe is savory, super easy, and just plain ole yummy. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken and mushroom soup
• sliced mushrooms
• medium onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp seasoned salt
• 1 tbsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Season the chicken breast with the seasoned salt, garlic salt, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.
2. Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the two cans of cream of chicken and mushroom soup until smooth Pour over the chicken, making sure it is well coated. Place the sliced onions and mushrooms over the chicken.
3. Cover, and cook on Low heat for 7 to 8 hours. Stir in the sour cream about 1/2 hour before serving.

I made a bag of egg noodles to go with this, but rice, of course, is another great option!

Unemployed and and unmotivated

• My husband kisses me goodbye at 9:30.
• I get up and move to the guest bedroom to sleep at 9:35 because I can never fall back to sleep in our bed after being woken up. I'm weird, I know, and I accept that.
• I wake up at 1:30 popping one eye open to monitor the time, the other eye shut just in case it's a little after 12 and not really after 1. I always crave sleep.
• I finally sit up at 1:45 and either jump on the internet, or grab something to eat.
• 2pm I watch Maury. And I laugh. I laugh at those that are 1000% sure that the lil boy posing as a man on the stage IS their child's "favah". I laugh harder when Maury says actually, no, he is NOT the "favah". Bwahahaha. Stupid hoodrats. Le sigh.
• 3pm I either search for a job, or fight with my hair. These days, fighting with my hair tends to win, especially since it allows me to stare at Sonny on General Hospital for a good hour. Yummo.
• 4pm I start getting the house together. Well, it can't be in the EXACT same state it was in before he left home, now could it???
• 5pm I chillax in bed until he comes home.
• 6pm - 2am I chill with the hubby. We play game cube, we watch movies, I force him to watch my reality shows. I love hanging out with that man!
• 2am - 4am I watch hair videos on youtube or plot the next lace front wig I'm gonna buy. Then I remember that I don't have a job, and buying a lace front wig takes money and ummm, I don't have any, so tomorrow I DEFINITELY have to spend the day job searching!

Except I don't. I never do anymore. I'm so unmotivated. Don't get me wrong, I want a job, I do. I really want to work. But you can only put out so many resumes and get zero calls back before it wears you down and out. What's the point? Why spend hours a day applying for jobs that I know I'm overqualified or underqualified for with the millions of other people that are doing it too. I've officially lost my give-a-dayum, but that's not very mature of me. I'm an adult with adult responsibilities, bills, and a household to help take care of. However, this economy has me singing the blues. Atleast the other times I've been unemployed I've gotten a lot of bites on my resume, but now? Nothing.

I feel disgusted, lost, and tired. I try to keep my faith up, remember that things are NOT what they look like, and that God has a blessing instore for me, but somedays...somedays that just feels like lip service and so very far from the truth. Somedays I want to completely throw in the towel and just become a bum. Thank God I love my husband or I think I actually would.

Right now I am just discouraged. Right now I just feel like a failure with no way out. I'm trying to make my dreams come true, but even my dreams have a price.

Pray for me, will you?

~HG

NRW: Warm Me Up Daddy Chili

Ok, so I know it's summer, not winter, but sometimes a sista gets a lil jonesin for some chili in the middle of the 100 degree heat wave. Sounds crazy, but when you're sitting inside freezing from the a/c, it happens. This is one of the best chili's I've ever created, so I'm excited to post it!

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds ground turkey
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained
2 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large white onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
2 strips of bacon fried and crumbled
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon season all
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag lime corn chips
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (8 ounce) package sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large frying pan, crumble the ground turkey and sausage into the hot pan, season with season all, a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of pepper. Cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
2. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Pour in the ground turkey and sausage mixture, black beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, crumbled bacon, and bouillon. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust spices to desired taste.
4. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with sour cream and shredded Cheddar cheese. Scoop up with tortilla chips.

***Please remember that chili always tastes better the next day, so my suggestion is to prepare this the day before, and reheat for dinner the next day. However, even if you eat it right there on the spot, it's still gonna taste delish! Enjoy!

New Recipe Wednesday - Barbecue Pork Butt

Since becoming a housewife, I've found myself also becoming a female version of Theo. When I visit my mother on the weekends, I rummage through her fridge and freezer to see what I can take home to cook. I should be ashamed, but I'm not because, well, I'm broke, and she no longer cooks! Well a couple of Sunday's ago as I was going through her freezer, I saw something that both disgusted me, and intrigued me. Pork butt. What the freak is pork butt? I didn't know, but hey, I love a challenge, so I snatched it up. I had no clue how to cook it, so, I came up with my own recipe to see if it would work.

INGREDIENTS

• 3lbs pork butt
• 1 small onion sliced
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• Your favorite barbecue sauce
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder

1. Liberally season pork with salt, pepper, and garlic powder
2. Place the pork butt in a non-reactive bowl and pour evoo over it. Cover with plastic wrap and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour
3. While the pork butt is marinating, slice your small onion and chop your 2 garlic cloves
4. Heat a pan on medium-high, and fry the pork butt for four minutes on each side
5. Place the pork butt in aluminum foil. Place the foiled pork butt in a slow cooker set on medium-high for four hours.
6. Place onion slices and chopped garlic in foil with pork butt, and spread barbecue sauce on top.
7. Close foil around pork butt tightly and let cook for 2 hours.
8. At the end of the two hours, open the foil and flip the pork butt over, adding more barbecue.

We had this last night for dinner. It was sooo tender, and juicy! Love it! I will never again be afraid of pork "butt"!

New Product Tuesday - Murad

When my husband and I returned from our honeymoon in early July, we returned with dry skin. It was a shock to me to see dry spots on my cheeks and under my eyes. I have combination skin, but my cheeks only tend to dry out during the winter, so you can understand my concern. I upped my water intake, and cut back on the caffeine to no avail. So, I did what I know how to do best. I went to Sephora.

The great thing about Sephora is that they will create samples of their products for you, so you don't have to spend a ton of money that you don't know for sure work on your skin. They also have a fantabulous return policy, but I digress.

I walked in and immediately became overwhelmed by the number of skincare products they had, even though I've worked for Sephora before. It is a beauty wonderland. I found a skincare specialist to point me in the right direction. As I described what was going on with my skin, the specialist went towards Murad. I cringed. I LOVE Murad but it's so friggin expensive. She picked out two products for me: Murad's Resurgence Renewing Cleansing Cream and Resurgence Sheer Lustre Day Lotion SPF 15. Le sigh. Ok Ms. Skin Care Specialist, hook me up with a sample and let's see what happens.

When I got home I immediately tried it out. Per the directions, I dampened my skin and then massaged a small amount (no more than dime size) on my skin. I immediately liked this product. I had no idea whether it was actually working on my skin yet, but the texture felt like a silk pearl. It had a nice light scent, like chamomile infused with fruit. It slid on my skin smoothly, and I did NOT want to stop massaging it in. I rinsed it off with warm water and dried my face. I touched my skin to see if I could feel a difference. It felt like butter! I then reached for the moisturizer and spread it on my face. I was happy to see that with this as well, a little goes a long way.

Can I just say that, that those dry spots almost immediately disappeared? They had definitely shrunk in size. By day 3 of me using these products, my skin was dry spot free, smooth as silk, and glowing. Murad and my skin are having a love affair, and I'm never turning back.

Murad Renewing Cleansing Cream

What it does:

• Balances out the dry spots
• Restricts the oily spots from creating more oil
• Gently exfoliates without using harsh ingredients

Who it's for:

• Women over the age of 40
• Those who have combination to dry skin

Where you can buy it:

• Sephora - $35
• SkinCareRx.com - $34.95
• Dermadoctor.com - $35

Pros:

• Cleanses your skin while moisturizing
• Exfoliates without scratching your skin

Cons:

• None! It's pure perfection.
  
  

Murad Resurgence Sheer Lustre Day Lotion SPF 15

What it does:

• Instantly hydrates and protects hormonally aging skin
• Offers sun protection
• Restores elasticity and radiance

Who it's for:

• Women over the age of 40
• Those who have combination to dry skin

Where you can buy it:

• Sephora - $68
• Skinstore.com - $68
• Discountbeautycenter.com - $57.79
  

Pros:

• Your skin stays moisturized all day
• Doesn't slide or glide off your face

Cons:

• Contains sparkles which is a little weird.