Secret Ingredient...

Today I decided to make French Toast for breakfast, but with a little twist...I had received a coupon for a free pint bottle of Breve Creme coffee creamer, now I don't drink coffee, but after seeing all the flavors of coffee creamer, I wanted to see if I could get away with using it without coffee!  So I decided to try something that I had heard from their website; substituting it for milk in French Toast!

Here's my recipe:

Breve Creme French Toast
1 egg
1/2 cup Breve Creme (I used Vanilla Caramel Cream)
Beat with a fork until mixed.
4-5 pieces of bread

Heat pan to 300.  Dip bread into egg mixture, covering both sides and put into hot, greased pan.  Cook until brown on both sides (about 2-3 minutes per side).  Enjoy!

To make things even more decadent, I added bananas and whipped topping.  YUMMY!  You could taste a little extra sweetness from the Breve Creme, it gave it a vanilla and caramel hint to it, making the French Toast almost like a dessert rather than a breakfast!  With varieties like Hershey's Chocolate Caramel, Almond Joy and Southern Butter Pecan, the possibilities are endless!  Here's the link for .55 off of one bottle.

ENJOY!

Covergirl Product Review

I am a BzzAgent and I am given the opportunity to try products for free from time to time.  This time I am happy to tell you about the new COVERGIRL NatureLuxe Collection.  I was given a Gloss Balm in the shade of Sandstone and a bottle of Liquid Silk Foundation in the shade of Chamois to test and give you my honest opinion.

Here's the facts:

silk foundation

*Provides a smooth, silky feel
*Contains refreshing cucumber water to help balance the creaminess of the application
*Made with hints of jojoba and rosehip extracts
*Available in 14 shades ranging from light to dark toes
*Oil-free, SPF 10 and dermatologically tested
*Suggested to retail for $11.99

gloss balm

*Combines the sheer color and shine of a gloss with the soft moisturization of a balm
*Available in 16 versatile, beautiful shades
*Formulated with SPF 15 for added protection
*Suggested to retail for $6.49

Here's the Inside Scoop:
"As Global Creative Designer Director at COVERGIRL and a creative force behind the new COVERGIRL NatureLuxe Collection, world-renowned make-up artist Pat McGrath knows a thing or two about what looks good.  And when she's not creating avantgarde make-up looks for the shows of Dolce & Gabanna and Christian Dior or travelling the world creating the next new look, she's helping to bring these looks to you.  So what does Pat have to say about the lightweight luxury of this new collection?

"silk foundation: "In make-up, we're seeing Luxe-Simplicity influence a light, fresh yet flawless look which is both luxurious and radiant; i call this the 'naturally polished' look.  Think of a beautiful and radiant glow as if you've just been to a spa and have been pampering your skin.  This is not a 'no make-up' look; this is full coverage yet naturally polished, a light yet confident look."

Of course, Pat isn't the only one touting the lightweight look and feel.  We're fans for the high quality, polished look and  the affordability.  In fact, even the $180* make-up can't beat COVERGIRL NatureLuxe Silk Foundation for a lightweight feel!  So you can look good and feel good about wearing it.

*avg. price based on US data from the NPD group.


I have always love COVERGIRL stuff and was very happy to try these new NatureLuxe Collections products.  To start off, I must have picked the wrong shade, because the Liquid Silk Foundation is to dark for my complexion.  Oh well.  Other than that, I loved how smoothly it went on my face, and the smell was not like any other Foundation that I've used.  The smell was very pleasant, almost fruity like.  It also came off very easily, which was good seeing that I had the wrong shade!
The Lip Balm was just the right shade for my light complexion.  It also had a very nice fruity smell to it, almost like Strawberries.  Smells to me are very important.  If something has too strong or too weird of a smell, I won't wear it.  I also love how the Lip Balm has sparkles in it.  It gives it a very chic flare, making one feel like a little girl, but sophisticated enough to make you feel very elegant.  I would recommend these two products to everyone who asks!

*these opinions are all my own honest opinions!  I was also given coupons for $2 off the NatureLuxe Silk Foundation for any of my readers who would like to try this product!*

Today is D-Day, or also known as Diet Day. Today I can officially start my diet! I am so excited to start exercising again! I will post my before pics, but for now I'm going to tell you my goal for the week; no sweets except for on Sunday's. That helped me lose lots of weight before, so I figured what better way to kick off my diet week!
Tonight I also start exercising. I am so excited to start up Zumba again! Wish me luck! Enjoy!

HOPPY EASTER!

Making Bunny Pancakes!

 The finished Bunnies!

YUMMY!  Happy Easter!  Hope yours is going well too!  ENJOY!

My Poor Babies!

We blessed our little smoosh on Sunday, which should have been the day we should have stayed home!  My little girl had a fever and a cough!  After wards we headed to my mom's for food and all my little girl did was cry, mope and sleep.

Fast forward to today.  My husband and oldest son have pink eye and colds, my little girl has just a normal cold now, no fever (hooray!) I have a cold and a really bad sore throat (no white spots, thank goodness) and little smoosh has a cough and a little congestion.  This whole week I've been trying to keep him healthy, but unless I actually LEAVE, there was no real way to keep the older kiddos away!  So today in order to keep the pink eye at bay, my little girl is headed to baby animal days with my sister and her kiddo, and little smoosh is well, tied up for the day! (don't mind my hair, yes I'm in my jammies, and am not wearing makeup!)

I LOVE this thing!  I got the idea from a lady at JoAnn's Fabric one day.  I am eternally grateful to her for telling me how to make one, and then teaching me how to tie it!  To make your own, find a material that is the same on both sides (a homespun) and get 6 yards, or 5 if you are petite. Remember to USE A COUPON if you have one and if it's not on sale! (p.s., if you have a smartphone, JoAnn's has a coupon app that you can upload weekly coupons to.  Which I think is awesome, because who likes to have to remember your coupons!)
You can either cut it into 1/3rds or I just folded it in half and sewed it together.  There are many sites you can go to, to learn how to "wear your baby"!  A few of my favorite are; wearyourbaby.com, and mobywrap.com, or you can just google it!

Something Fun for Easter!

I found these HUGE marshmallow bunnies at Walmart when I was there the other day!

I took them over to my mom's house to show her, and my little sister wanted to make rice krispie treats with them, so we took a shot at it and they turned out really cool!

Jumbo Bunny Krispie Treats

3 TBSP butter
23 Jumbo Bunnies
6 cups rice krispie cereal

Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl. Swirl butter to coat bowl.  Put marshmallows in with the butter and microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds.  DO NOT STIR DURING MICROWAVE TIME!!  Dump cereal in and fold into marshmallows.  Press into a greased 9x13 pan.  Cut, Serve and ENJOY!

Other variations we've tried and LOVE:

Add a few boxes of nerds to the cereal before stirring it together
Strawberry Marshmallows
Chocolate chips for swirls of chocolate

Conference weekend and a YUMMY Dessert!

How was your weekend?  Here at my house our weekend was filled with spiritual uplifting!  It was what we call Conference weekend.  Every 6 months, we tune our t.v.'s to our beloved Prophet, President Monson, his counselors, and other members of various organizations, speak to us about what we as members need to work on. (click here to watch videos, text will be available on April 7)  The talks that were my favorite were by Elder Quentin L. Cook from the Saturday moning Session about LDS women, and Elder David A. Bednar from the Sunday morning Session about light and revelation. I can't wait for the conference version of our Church Magazine the Ensign to come out in May so I can read all of the uplifting and inspired talks again!

Sunday, after Conference was over, I made a FABULOUS cream cheese dessert that I found here.  Even my picky hubby told me that it was great!

Cream Cheese Squares

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup margarine, melted
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Press one can of the crescent rolls into the bottom of the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Spread over the crescent layer. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and lay them on top of the cream cheese layer. Do not press down. Pour the melted margarine over the entire pan. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is crisp and golden.

I cut the recipe in half, which was a GOOD thing, because I'm pretty sure the whole 9x13" pan would be mostly in my tummy by now!  You'll have to make it and tell me what you think!  ENJOY!! (original recipe found here)