Beauty Tip #1

Hello, lovelies!  I hope you all (in America) are enjoying our wonderful holiday weekend.  I get to spend all three glorious days…wait for it…at work.  :/  Could be worse.  I could be sick!

Today, I’m posting a different sort of blog post.  I love all things beauty, so I thought I’d share a tip with you today.  Enjoy!

Did you like today’s post?  Would you like to hear more of my beauty tips?  Leave me a comment and let me know!  What else would you like to see (or see more of) on the blog?  I’m always looking for suggestions!

Do you iQ?

So…originally I had planned to update you all on Jake’s six month doctor’s appointment as well as his introduction to solids.  Well…that didn’t go exactly as planned.  I came home tonight to find Jake already in bed.  At 5:45p.  Usually if he goes to sleep after daycare, he is out for the night.  He might wake up around 9 or so for a feeding, but he’s still typically very sleepy and I just don’t think it’s the right time to feed him solids for the first time!  So, please enjoy a post I had in reserve for just such an occasion:

__________________________________________________________

A long time ago, I wrote about one of my favorite apps for the iPhone, Grocery iQ.  It still continues to be one of the most used apps on my phone.  Recently I discovered a new “trick” I guess you could call it and, it may be simple, but it makes my life a lot easier.

Have you ever gone to the store with a list of ingredients only to sit there and think, “Now, why do I need six cups of spinach leaves?”  I do this all. the. time.  Then I opt not to get it (especially if I am halfway across the store when I notice I missed it) and get home, only to find it is the key ingredient in a dish I plan to make that night.  Fail.

I have never really figured out a good way to add a list of foods I’m making to the app.  Until today.  See, when you type in a special ingredient (i.e. one that’s not already in the grocery database) it defaults to the “Other” category. To take advantage of this category, I type in the name of the recipe I want to make and click “Add to List”.

Then I navigate to the “Other” category and my recipe name is listed below.

To further take advantage of this little trick, I click edit and copy and paste the web address of the recipe I’m making into the “Description” field of the recipe.

Now, when I’m at the store, I not only have a list of recipes I plan to make, but the web address in case I have questions (like how much spinach do I really need?).  Make sense?

It’s the little things in life that make me happy.

Pantry Staples

(source)

I am a creature of habit.  When I look for new recipes to make, I typically find myself making note of recipes that are very similar to dishes I have made in the past.  I can’t tell you how many different oil based pasta dishes I have dog-eared in my food magazines.  I mean, how many different ways can you make a sauce with olive oil, tomatoes, and garlic?

This got me thinking…what are my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer staples?  What do I keep on hand so, at a moments notice, I can whip up something quick and easy for dinner without having to go to the store.  One of my favorite pantry staple recipes is my Dad’s Spaghetti.  Below, you’ll find my list of must haves:

Pantry:
Olive oil
Peanut butter
Pasta
Canned diced tomatoes
Sundried tomatoes
Pesto
Garlic or garlic paste (Trader Joe’s has a great garlic paste!)
Balsamic vinegar
Soy sauce
Chili garlic paste
Salsa
Chicken/beef broth
Rice
Pasta sauce
Potatoes
Onions
Loaves of bread
Canned tomato soup (my favorite is Progresso High Fiber Tomato)
Assorted mustards (yellow, Dijon, spicy brown, Chinese hot, honey)
Sesame oil
Apple cider vinegar
Bread crumbs
Instant potatoes (Idahoan Loaded Baked Potatoes are our favorite)
Baking products including flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, yeast, cornstarch, salt, brown & powdered sugars, and chocolate chips
Oats
Lawry’s 30 minute marinades (Kroger’s version of this is pretty good too)
Canned Corn (Thanks, Gretchen!)
Canned Black Beans (Thanks, Gretchen!)

Refrigerator:
Butter
Milk
Eggs
Parmesan cheese
Assorted shredded cheese (cheddar/mozzarella)
American cheese slices
Beer & Wine  (I like to buy individual bottles of red and white wine for cooking)
Proscuitto and/or bacon
Yogurt
Flavored light cream cheese (Philadelphia Light Chive & Onion cream cheese is phenomenal on top of a baked potato)

Freezer:
Boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs
Pork roast
Ground beef
Veggies (corn is a favorite side dish of ours)
IQF* Rolls and Breads
IQF Fruits
Lean Cuisines…for those nights where I just can’t bear to chop a single thing!
Ice Cream…who needs a reason for this?
Filled pastas (ex: Buitoni Chicken & Proscuitto Tortellini)

Spices:
Salt
Pepper
Cinnamon
Italian Seasoning
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Smoked Paprika
Dorothy Lane Market Steak Seasoning**
Cumin

*IQF=Individual Quick Frozen
**For those of you who are unfamiliar, Dorothy Lane Market is a gourmet grocery store in Dayton.  They have a steak rub that is to die for!  I put it on everything from steaks to chicken to roasted veggies to scrambled eggs.  It is just a yummy mix of spices that adds a little pop of flavor to any dish.  It is heavily salted, however, so if you use it, use it sparingly.

As I said above, I like having a plethora of items at home in case I don’t want to stop at the store after work.  I also try to keep frozen homemade casseroles and soups in my freezer at all times so I can thaw something quickly.

Question:  What go to items do you keep in your house that I didn’t mention above?
New items I forgot will be included above in red!

Skin Tone Adjustment (Photoshop Elements)

As you can tell from my photos, I am not extremely good at photography…yet.  I am still lacking in photo composition and sometimes have a hard time capturing the moment like some bloggers.  I do believe I am pretty good at editing my pictures.  I’m not an expert, but I think I understand Photoshop enough to get my pictures to look the way I want.

Photoshop (and the condensed version, Photoshop Elements or PSE for short) is a hard program to learn, but with time (and lots of YouTube video watching) I have learned the basics of photo editing.  I can even make decent scrapbook pages!

Jake’s book is still being created however…

Oddly enough, I just discovered one of my absolute favorite features of PSE: Adjustments for Skin Tone!  It can take a photo that looks like this

and turn it into this!

Notice how much warmer Jake’s skin looks?  His shirt is more vibrant and truer to life as well.  It is so simple too.  In PSE, you go to Enhance>Adjust Color>Adjust Color for Skin Tone…

Then, when the dropper appears on the screen, you click on the subject’s skin and the photo magically changes color!  If you don’t like the first attempt, click Reset and try a different area of skin.  Sometimes PSE doesn’t get it right, but more often than not it does.

It’s seriously that easy.  I can’t believe I never knew this trick before!