[As Seen on TV] FabFitFun Spring 2019

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only." - Coco Chanel

I love FabFitFun. I joined the quarterly subscription box service almost two years ago. It was summer 2017 and after seeing the boxes everywhere, I had to join in. I never turned back and have been consistently happy. 

The box costs $50 a quarter or $180 annually (a savings of $20). I'm a quarterly member. I never bump up because I always thing, well - what if you want to cancel at some point, but I haven't had that thought yet so who knows. You can customize some portions of the box with an either or selection process with some of it being left a mystery. Every box's worth sits well above the $50 you pay. You can also choose to do add-ons for discounted prices as well. This month was my first month doing add-ons. This is the first time I've done add-ons so I'm excited to share my thoughts on all of this with you.

Let's get right into it!

The full box came with eight things. There were three things that were automatically included for everyone, three things that were customizable by everyone and two extra things that were customizable by those with annual memberships. Those without annual memberships still got a random selection of the two extra things. All the boxes come with the seasonal FabFitFun magazine and usually with a coupon for Hello Fresh (which I always toss out). The magazine is actually super helpful. It shows you what all the selections were, how to use yours, a note from the Editor, and a lot of other awesome information - including interviews and coupons!

Here's what was in my box:

[Take Me to the Movies] Captain Marvel

"There is no need to waste your time working to be anything other than you." - Brie Larson

Hello! Welcome to the first post in my Take Me to the Movies series (no spoilers). As many of you know, Captain Marvel was released today which happens to be International Women’s Day. Coincidence? I think not! Not only that but this is a HUGE release for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as it’s the final piece to the puzzle leading up to Avengers: End Game. I’ll start with my ratings for the six categories I have and for a seventh bonus category. My boyfriend is also a huge Marvel fan so we discussed our thoughts in depth.

Screenplay/Originality - I’m sure this was a difficult screenplay for the writers. Not only is this an origin story for Capitan Marvel but also the Avengers. For a two hour movie, it’s quite tough to bring

Time for a Re-Do

"Take a deep breath, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again" - Frank Sinatra

Listen guys, I'm ready. I know I have gone MIA then tried again a couple times in the past, but this time I know I'm truly at a point where I know I'm truly prepared to blog again. I miss writing and I want this to be my outlet. Why a public outlet? I think I'm super relatable and I want to be someone that people feel they can really relate to. I've had enough time to pick myself up, dust myself off, brainstorm, and now I'm here to start all over.

There are going to be five main blog topics that I will cover and I'd like to introduce you to them.

That's Life - This will be be where I talk about my life. I have a feeling this one will get a lot of love. I feel good things coming!
As Seen on TV - Product reviews! They won't be all be things I've seen on TV.. they could be things I've seen on Facebook, Instagram, Etsy, Amazon, wherever my online searches take me, things people have recommended to me, things I see at Target, Home Goods, and who else knows where. Real life, everyday reviews.
Tell Me a Story - I'm now a Book of the Month member. Some months I read faster than others and some months I can barely get 10 minutes a day. I hope that wanting to review books will push me to read more.
No Reservations - Foooooood. This is going to be where I talk about food - recipes I make up, any food I eat worth talking about, review restaurants, and recipes I've tried.
Take Me to the Movies - My boyfriend and I became AMC Stubs A-List members back in November and we loooooove it (I'll write a whole post about that). Since we now watch a lot of movies, I'm going to review them. I'll also review Hallmark and Lifetime movies, but those won't be structured ratings, more of just me sharing my opinions and comparing against the hundreds of other Hallmark and Lifetime movies I've watched. Back to the theater movies, I've created a rating system for how I will review and rate them.. Each category will be rated out of five then I will average the scores for one overall rating. It will go as follows -  

-Screenplay/Originality
-Acting
-Entertainment factor (including emotion factors too)
-Audio (including soundtrack and sound editing/mixing)
-Visuals (cinematography, animation, visual and special effects)
-Trailer 

There they are! What do you think?! I'll of course post about other things as well but wanted to introduce you to my current blog babies that I really love. I hope you'll love these and follow along. I can't wait to start working on the next post!

Until next time

Recipe Review: Natasha's Kitchen - Blueberry Lemon Cake

"Learn how to cook -- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all, have fun." - Julia Child

Hi everyone! 

I know, it's been a while - a long while. I'm back with a new series which I'm calling "Recipe Review". This will be where I share my thoughts on recipes I find on this wonderful thing we call the internet. 

This first recipe I'm going to be reviewing is a Blueberry Lemon Cake from Natasha's Kitchen. Below you will find her exact shared recipe followed by some thoughts I have.

Blueberry Lemon Cake

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 55 mins Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

This Blueberry Lemon Cake is loaded with 1 pound of blueberries and every bite has sweet pops of juicy blueberry and fresh lemon flavor. It's not too sweet and not too tangy, but just right.

Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com

Skill Level: Easy

Reviews: 4.7 from 174 reviews (as of 11/3/17)

Cost To Make: $8-$10

Serving: 9" blueberry cake

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (210 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (8oz) sour cream
• ½ cup light olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour*
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 medium lemon (zest and juice), divided
• ½ Tbsp corn starch
• 16 oz (450g) fresh** blueberries
• Powdered sugar to dust the top, optional

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks for each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love and friends, for everything thy goodness sends" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Two Thanksgiving traditions. 1 - I go to Charlotte every year where we all gather and 2 - The girls of the family get together for our annual Cousins Day. This year we decided to be dorks and get matching pajamas. I mean, who hasn't at least thought about matching? And yes, I totally used a selfie stick to get us all in the picture. 

Can I just tell you how fun it is to just lay around with people you love while stuffing your face with food and drinks and watching holiday movies?! My heart just felt so happy. We watched Home Alone and Elf, and then after that we watched YouTube makeup tutorials and tried to learn cat eye techniques. That didn't go over so well. Well, actually, for some of us it went well, for some it didn't. For me, I of course made one eye perfect and the other was, well, a disaster - haha.

(Our cute little bar cart. No, we didn't drink all of it!)

It's also always so nice to spend the day with a good part of my family. This is one of the only pictures we got, which for the record - didn't include the kids. And to think, if the WHOLE family got together, the photo would be double the size, at least! 

So much food, family, fun, and football. I hope everyone had an amazing and wonderful Thanksgiving as well! <3

It's Chili Time

"Fall isn't Fall without it being chilly outside and having chili cooking inside."

(toppings included)

I've been in the mood for chili. It's officially October, it's getting colder, and our bodies are already getting hungrier for those delicious Fall foods. I found a chili recipe courtesy of a packet of McCormick's White Chicken Chili mix that I wanted to make but noticed it has gluten/flour in it. Instead I did some research for a recipe and adapted it to be my own.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil
1 pound ground chicken
2 cloves of garlic, minced/mashed
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic salt - I have the one with parsley flakes
3/4 teaspoon of oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon of chili powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1 can (15 ounces) white beans, undrained (I used Great Northern)
1 can whole corn, drained
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained (I used Hunt's Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic!)
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional toppings:
Avocado
Salt & Vinegar Kettle Cooked Chips or Crackers
Shredded Cheese (vegan or regular)

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Pizza

"You stole a pizza my heart."

I won't lie, I'm not even really a huge pizza fan.. but maybe because I'm not supposed to be having gluten or dairy I've all of a sudden started wanting it all the time. I was roaming Trader Joe's (my favorite grocery store) and found a gluten free pizza crust which really got me thinking of how I can make my own pizza. I bought a few items from TJ's and as able to put together a delicious gluten and dairy free pizza.

1. Gluten Free Pizza Crusts - comes two in a pack. Also would like to note that there is no egg in this either.

2. Traditional Marinara Sauce - This pasta sauce is SO good for being all of $2 and so simple.

3. Soy Cheese Blend - This tastes way better than I thought it would. I wouldn't eat it alone but tastes perfect on this pizza.

And my choice of toppings:

4. Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage

5. Grape Tomatoes

6. Spinach

(not pictured)

7. Kalamata Olives

8. Artichokes

The cooking process was super simple. I preheated the oven to 350* while I assembled the pizza. I then baked it for about 15 minutes. Easy peasy pizza. :) 

All of this was bought from TJ's and all 8 of the listed items only cost me about $20 and makes two pizzas. Besides the crusts, I still have leftovers of everything. I failed at taking a picture of the actual pizza because it looked so good, and it was! I ate it faster than I could blink. I also used Hampton Creek's Just Caesar as a dipping sauce. 

(Shoutout to Hampton Creek for their "Just" line. Their mayo and salad dressings are vegan and so, so yummy!)

Do you have any recommendations for good pizza toppings? Or how about some good gluten free, dairy free options? I'd love to hear them! 

Until next time.

Quick & Easy: Bean & Avocado Salad

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." - George Bernard Shaw

As mentioned in my last post, I'm going to post recipes of things I can eat. Things that are gluten, dairy, and egg free. The other day I was randomly in the mood for beans and I have no idea why. I had a can of Great Northern in my pantry so I searched on Pinterest for things to make. I found a recipe I was interested in but decided to just make my own. So I came up with a Bean & Avocado Salad - which is basically just guac with beans.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Great Northern beans (drained)
• 1 medium avocado (cut up)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes (diced)
• 1/4 cup red onion (diced)
• 1/2 tbsp lemon
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 clove of garlic (mashed - or diced)
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix them all together. Honestly, it's that simple.

I was in a rush when I made this so I wanted to make sure I wasn't making anything crazy elaborate. I will say, the one thing I wished I add that I didn't have was cilantro, that would have been a perfect finishing touch. I did also make it again a few days later and added more avocado and Heart of Palm, which was delicious. 

Are you going to make this? Let me know how you like it! Until next time..

Food Sensitivity Test - When You Actually Have Proof

"People who love to eat are always the best people" - Julia Child

You know that feeling when you eat something and your body just isn't having it? But yet it tasted so good that you ignore it anyway? Yeah, that's how I've been lately. There are foods that I eat, because they're obviously delicious (like cheese), but afterwards I'm just not feeling the greatest. 

For more than two years now, one of my very good friends (who is also a personal trainer) has been telling me to take the Food Sensitivity Test at Life Time Fitness, which is the gym I go to. I never did it because I didn't want to buy in to it, literally. It's a fairly costly test but kept thinking I could do it (lose weight) on my own. Recently my gym bff did it and said she was surprised by the results.  After having long conversations about it, I decided to do more research into it. I searched through the Life Time site, I Googled reviews (which were mainly blog posts), and anything else I could find. Life Time's website read:

Belly fat that you just can’t get rid of. Trouble building muscle or losing muscle tone. Eating like a bird and still gaining weight. Sound familiar? You’ve likely tried many ways to lose weight without lasting success. Lab testing can be the easiest, most cost-effective, scientifically validated way to find out why you haven’t been achieving the results you want.

Yeah, yeah, fine. Take my money. I mean, I always knew that I wasn't doing well with dairy but didn't want to admit it. I just reached the point that I was so sick of not seeing results so I threw the towel in on this one. Maybe, maybe, there was something I just didn't know. 

The process was easy. I paid for the test and they handed me a box. The box contained vials and some information that I needed to take to LabCorp to have them draw my blood. Stopped by a LabCorp with no appointment just a few days later and went on my merry way. Then a few days after that the results were in.

OH MY GOSH. Seriously? My mind was blown by the results. "No way," I thought.. but I guess my blood/body don't lie. There it was, on paper, my sensitivities -- a lot of them.

How it really works: Your blood is run against 96 of the most common food items. Sensitivities are listed 0, 1, 2, and 3. Zero meaning there is no sensitivity and a three meaning you have a severe sensitivity. They also do a CBC (complete blood count) test to evaluate overall health. Included in the test is a meeting with a registered dietitian to go over results.

I met with her, she gave me a color coded spreadsheet and then she broke my heart.

Class 0 are listed in alphabetical order while the others are listed by severity with the result in parenthesis. The foods with results listed next to it in Class 0 are ones that are close to being a Class 1. Class 0 = 0-.199. Class 1 = .2-.299, Class 2 = .3-.399, Class 3 = .4+

This means no gluten, dairy, or eggs for me. That's so tough. I feel like that's most of what makes different foods so delicious. While, yes, some items are across the board, because there is a part of it in severe, I was told to avoid it. For the next three months I am avoiding (at all costs) the above mentioned. I'm trying to keep away from Class 2s and just watch my Class 1s.

I'll periodically do updates on how this is going. I'm planning on starting a new post series with different recipes and foods I can eat. I don't want to make this post excessively long, so if you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll respond to the best of my knowledge. Until next time..

New York, New York

“One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.” - Tom Wolfe

the bride with me creepin behind in the backseat.

One of my very dearest friends, Vikkie, is getting married in two weeks. For her bachlorette party we decided to do a weekend in New York City and boy was it amazing. I'm one of those people who wholeheartedly loves NYC. I truly believe I belong there so when I step foot on city grounds, I'm happy as can be. 

We didn't do anything over the top but we still had an amazing time!

Friday: Drove from DC to NYC and of course, sang the entire way up. We relaxed  once we got there because we knew it was going to be our one "crazy" night. We sipped mimosas, took forever getting ready, and just chatted before heading out. The night held dinner and drinking, Distorted Diznee, and karaoke. This was my first time doing karaoke and it was a lot more fun than I thought. I guess the liquid courage really helps.

I do want to take a minute to tell you about Distorted Diznee. Oh, my, gosh was it the most hysterical thing I'd seen in a long time. Four drag queens dressed up as Disney Princesses singing Disney mixed with modern day songs. If you're up in New York, you need to see these queens. Their shows rotate and they're actually almost done with Diznee but they do have others that seem like they'll be just as fun: Valentines, Broadway, Halloween, and Kristmess. I was planning on going up in December anyway so I'll definitely be adding this show to my to-do list. I will say as a warning that this is not kid friendly.

Saturday: Brunch at this adorable diner that was also very good. Roaming the city and Central Park. Everytime I go to NYC, I go to Central Park but have never explored it the way I should. We went through the entire park and had so much fun. Walking through certain parts all I could think of was, "Whoa. This is where Something Borrowed was filmed and same with Big Daddy, and pretty much every other movie ever!" I know, cheesy and don't ask why I thought of those two specific movies, but oh well. Later in the day I took my friend, the bride, to get a blowout from Drybar. For dinner we went to Agave a Mexican restaurant and tequila bar. After we went to Marie's Crisis Piano Bar for a bit and had a blast. Saturday is Showtunes so of course my friends and I loved it.

the beautiful bride - second from the left.

the only group shot we got and it's perfect!

Sunday: Starbucks and a drive home. Although we did stop at White Castle. I've never been and had only seen it in Harold & Kumar. We all wanted to make a pitstop so we did. More of a fun experience than for good food.

we weren't high but Harold & Kumar did inspire us.

Overall it was a super fun weekend and I'm glad Vikkie got to enjoy it with her favorite and best gals. I can't wait for my next trip up, I'm hoping for December. Until then, I'll leave you with this wonderful reminder, "a bad day in New York City is still better than a good day anywhere else."

Through The Years

"True friendship isn't about being inseparable, it's being separated and nothing changes."

I have some of the greatest friends  around. I know most people think so, but I do too. We've been friends since middle and high school. Our group truly, truly got closer once we graduated HS. Every year since we graduated in 2007, no matter what, we've gotten together for an annual holiday dinner. Some of my lovely ladies have moved, gotten married, had children, or had some other life changing events happen, but we still do a great job at getting together. I believe last year was the first time someone was missing from our dinner so we just FaceTimed her instead. Yay technology. 

(2010)

(2015)

(2016)

Over the weekend I had the chance to be reunited with my girls and per usual, it was a blast. I love that we can all be spread across the country (and since the last photo, across the world) but yet nothing changes when we talk/see eachother. So this post is for nothing more than to appreciate my girls. :)

I Jumped Out of a Plane

"If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try." - Seth Godin

No, really. I literally jumped out of a plane. For my birthday I took the entire week off. I mean, I didn't exactly do it in the way that it sounds. My manager had the week off already and it just seemed easy enough to match my vacation to her week off and the timing just happened to be perfect. I had a staycation where everyday this week I did something different to fully enjoy my time off. I'm not going to go through all of it but I was blessed enough to have family from Charlotte come surprise me. I was so, so happy.

My big moment was going skydiving. I've been thinking about this and planning this for a while. I mentioned it to a friend I made through work a couple months ago and he was all about it. I purposely waited until I made my deposit before letting my mom know. Once I did, she FREAKED and rightfully so. I'm actually petrified of heights (mainly the free fall) to the point that I can't go near the railing at the mall.

The desire to do this stems from my desire for "more" and "adventure". I haven't traveled (without the purpose of visiting family or a bachelorette party) in I don't even know how long. I don't do anything super exciting with my life and that makes me sad. I had a moment where I thought, if (God forbid) something happens to me right now, would I be happy with the way I've lived my life? I need to fill my life with more excitement, adventure, and happiness. So since I promised to make 27 my best year yet, this was how I wanted to start. Skydiving celebrated four things for me: my birthday, facing my fear of heights, crossing an item off my 30 Before 30 list, and new beginnings and adventure.

I can't even begin to explain how amazing the experience was. I think it's important to try something that really pushes you out of your comfort zone. The freefall was a rush of adrenaline like no other, and the parachute down was just breathtaking. I was able to look around and see perfectly blue skies, gorgeous green mountains and grass, and my surroundings in a way that can't be explained. 

I will definitely be skydiving again. I even want to try it in another country like New Zealand or Dubai (UAE). I dare you to try something new, to step outside your comfort zone and follow the quote, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." This experience made me realize that that quote is more true than one would think. Until next time, take a risk. :)

27, I'm in My Late 20s Now

"Happiness comes out of being willing to do your work in your twenties to find out who you are, what you love." Candace Bushnell

It's been a while, a long while. Why? Because I was lost. Lost in the sense of I didn't want to blog unless I was going to be good at it, I felt like I could only blog about one thing, I wasn't as good as I thought I was when it came to prioritizing my time, and so many other reasons. I even posted, probably a year and a half ago, that I wasn't going to force myself to a specific topic and I was just going to write. That obviously didn't turn out well and admittedly, I still had this idea in my head that made me feel like if I wasn't going to blog well (to my unnecessarily high standards) that I shouldn't blog at all. I give up on that, all of it - mainly because I know I need to get out of my head and just do what I like.

Now I'm 27, well I will be on Tuesday, and I am all about new beginnings. Being 26 was the first full year I had in my twenties where I was single. I also used this as a time to try and "figure myself out". I met new people, a lot of things changed for me, and all of it has been a wonderful learning experience for me but I'm not done yet. I'm nowhere near fully knowing who I am and everything I want, which is why I'll be using 27 to REALLY figure myself out. To go along with this, I even rebranded my blog so here we are, "TBD Tina - A twenty-something trying to figure it out". 

This will be my trip of a lifetime - finding myself, self-love, and everything in between. I'm excited for you all to join me on this journey. 

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inkWELL Press Planner Unboxing

Hi All - Today I bring you *my* highly anticipated planner post. When I say highly anticipated, I mean I was very excited to write this.

When looking for a planner for this year I did tons of research, and I mean tons. I am very particular when it comes to my planner layout because there are some things I really don't like. Some examples are - My daily blocks must be horizontal versus vertical because a) I have really big handwriting and b) vertical days tend to be laid out hourly and I don't like that for myself. I also need to have a notes section and if there's a way, a dedicated section for fitness. 

After weeks of searching on Pinterest, Googling, and watching YouTube videos, I chose the inkWELL Press liveWELL Planner in Flex. There are five different cover options to choose from that can be customized during certain times of the year (which I believe are prior to a new school year and at the end of a calendar year). I missed this time block so mine is not customized.

I ordered my planner on a Thursday night when they just happened to be having a flash sale for Chinese New Year. After seeing the original price and the discount price, I knew I needed to buy it right then. (You can get your own 20% off coupon code at the bottom of my post!) I received it the next Thursday, which was five business days since I ordered. As seen above, you can see it comes nicely packaged to protect from any potential shipping damage. 

There are a number of things I really like about this planner. To make this easier, I'm just going to give you a bulleted list of all the wonderfulness. 

• Let's start off by saying that the cover and the paper are great quality. The cover is like a hard cardboard which is good for anyone who takes their planner around with them, it'll be less likely to get ruined. The paper is thick enough that your pens won't bleed through but not too thick that it makes the entire planner unnecessarily thick.
• The page opposite of the year calendar view is a goals page with sections for personal, financial, social, health and fitness, and more.
• A Save the Date page which is good for you to have a whole overview in one glance versus flipping through every month.
• Each month has a monthly view, weekly views, a rambling page, notes page, and a goals page.
• Each weekly view has a notes section which I *love* because it's where I normally write my grocery list. I only grocery shop for myself and occasionally for my mom so I don't need too much space, so I can understand that it may not be big enough of a space for an entire family list. 
• Each day has a small section for meals, at home, and fitness. This is where I write down my workout for that day, what I plan to have for dinner, and if I need to do something around the house that night - vacuuming, laundry, etc. The only thing I find a little strange about this is you really only have enough space to write one meal making it less useful for someone who is into documenting all of their meals. 
• The back of the planner has some additional pages which are kind of cool. There's a section for travel where you can write trip information (airline, hotel, weather, etc.), a gift list section, a couple pages to write about movies and books (?!), a nice note section, and a 2016 calendar.
• There's also two open folders and a tie pocket.

I also want to point out how great their customer service is. I had a question and they were very quick with their response and very helpful. Customer service is huge for me and when it's good, I'm more way more likely to return!

There are a couple things that I didn't like which are really not even that big of a deal but I do still want to point them out for you to know. Some of the "extra" pages are really unnecessary for me. For instance, the page dedicated to movies and books, I'm not sure that this is something I would keep in my planner. I know it's silly to complain about but it is what it is. The main thing that I don't like is that the entire note section is gridded. I think it would be better to maybe do a half and half where they give a good amount of lined pages.

Also, I ordered stickers from Etsy and a website that inkWELL recommended. 

Of course, as it should be known by now.. It takes me forever to make decisions. I was hunting on Etsy for a good few days. There were TONS of cute ones but mainly I wanted to order my entire lot from a single Etsy shop a) that way it would be the same style, quality, and somewhat of the same theme, b) cut down on shipping costs and c) to give back a good amount to one shop at a time. The ones I decided on are from the shop It's Planning Time and eeek, they are so cute! I got small credit cards to remind me of pay day (even though no one really needs a reminder that they're about to get paid), stethoscopes for doctors appointments, grocery carts for when I wrote my grocery list in my notes section each week, and kettle bells for me to use in the month view to remind myself which days I actually went to the gym and didn't just plan to go. The stickers are a really nice quality and are a good thickness too. I'm already ordering my next batch of kettlebell stickers.
The next ones I got are some dots and flags from The Reset Girl via recommendation from inkWELL themselves.  I really like the color but I will admit, they are tiny stickers. They were not as big as I thought they would be but she does have bigger ones. I may skim through her page again and order the larger ones, but we'll see. Let me get through the ones I have now. She also sent some cute goodies with her order. Are you wondering what? Well you'll just have to order to find out! ;)

I have now realized that this has become a really long post so I'm going to cut myself off. Also because I want to do a "Plan with Me" post to show you how I actually use my planner and the stickers I got with them. If you decide to order yourself a planner before my next planner post, check out inkWELL's page and click here for a 20% coupon code. Do you have a planner and/or stickers that you totally love? Or do you have any tips on how you stay organized? If so, I'd love to hear them! Until next time, 

My Roll-Ups and My Weekend

This weekend was a super fun one that I'm going to tell you all about and even include some recipes. Whaatttt?! Yep. Full of deliciousness. 

Friday night I hung out with one of my friends at her place while we cooked and watched a throwback, Maid in Manhattan. She found this delicious Lasagna Roll-Up recipe that we worked off of that was seriously mouth watering. It can be made vegetarian or with meat, depending on your preferences.

Ingredients:

12-15 uncooked lasagna noodles (depending on size of your noodles - I had thinner ones - and how much mixture you would like to put)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

2 1/2 cups (one 10 oz package) shredded part-skim (or made with 2%) mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 jar spaghetti sauce (I still recommend the Bertolli Olive Oil, Basil & Garlic)

Directions:

I posted this on Snapchat and wanted to share it here too. 

1. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, drain and lay out on wax paper to avoid sticking.
2. While cooking, in a large bowl combine all other ingredients and mix fairly well. You can also preheat the oven to 375* at this time.
3. Once the noodles are done cooking and are laid out, spread cheese mixture over each noodle and carefully roll up. I used about 1/3 of a cup per noodle.

4. Pour enough spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Place roll-ups seam side down over sauce. Top with remaining sauce and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until heated all the way through and the noodles are baked to your liking. 

*Some great ways to add meat to this is to have some meatballs on the side or to use a sauce that includes meat.


We also made an Autumn Chopped Salad that was found from the blog Espresso and Cream.

Ingredients: 

2 chopped romaine lettuce heads

2 medium pears

1 cup cranberries

1 cup chopped pecans

8 slices of thick-cut bacon cooked crisp and crumbled

4 to 6 oz. crumbled feta cheese

Poppy Seed salad dressing

Balsamic Vinaigrette 

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the salad dressings. For the dressings, add in based on your preference. We did about a 65% PS to 35% BV ratio and were pretty generous with it.

Tips:

• This salad is also super delicious with green apples instead of the pears.
• I tried it with turkey bacon and it wasn't the same, what-so-ever
• Also very good with raw spinach

Saturday I went to a Breast Cancer bingo fundraiser held by my friend's mom. It was a packed house and a ton of fun. She is taking part in the Avon 39 Washington, DC in May and held this event as a way to raise money. Attendees donated $30 (or more) to participate in bingo. All the bingo round prizes were Vera Bradley (woohoo!) and they also had door prizes, raffles, food, and more, with all proceeds going towards her goal.

I went in and was basically throwing my money everywhere. Food? Sure, I'll eat a million extra calories today. Extra bingo boards? Here you go. Raffles? Why not, the money is all going to a great cause! - I was just expecting to have some fun and head home but I ended up winning the 50/50 raffle and a really amazing smelling set of Yankee Candles!

Also, all attendees who signed up at least two weeks in advance received a nice bracelet. I've recently really gotten into those online yard sale pages on Facebook so I'm thinking what I'd like to do is put the bracelet up for sale and whatever money I make for it, I will double it (up to $100) and donate it. Maybe the next person could do the same thing and start a really awesome donation chain? I've given up Facebook for Lent so I'm going to give this a shot as soon as I get back on.

In the mean time, if you would like to donate, please consider donating to my friend's mom's page. You can find her page here: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/jenschwab 

Sunday was just spent winding down and relaxing. I also spent the day trying to finish this delicious dessert bar thing that I bought at the fundraiser on Saturday. It was basically a HUGE Golden Graham bar - the graham cracker cereal, chocolate, marshmallows, delicious gooeyness.

I hope you had as great of a weekend as I did, and I hope you consider donating to Jen's page. Talk to you all soon!

Five Frozen Lent Options

We are officially in Lent. While not everyone gives up meat, most do try to practice no meat on Fridays. So today, I'd like to present you with some frozen options for those who are in a hurry and don't have much time to cook.

1. Quorn Chik'n Nuggets - I discovered these through my cousin. Her husband is a vegetarian and LOVES these. I was planning on giving up meat so I gave them a shot and boy, they legit taste like chicken nuggets. I enjoy them so much that I always have a box or two and eat these versus "real chicken" nuggets. - You can cook them in the oven or microwave but I personally really like using the oven. The crunch is awesome.

2. Trader Joe's Salmon Burgers - My mom gives up meat every year and she really likes these A) because they're really good and B) because you can eat them as a burger or just with whatever sides you'd like. - The box provides cooking instructions for grilling, oven, skillet or microwave. I like this because I don't have a grill (I live in an apartment and they're not allowed) and the thought of a microwaved salmon burger really grosses me out. Their turkey burgers don't even have cooking instructions for skillet/oven and that's probably because they cook really weird with those methods. It's a great thing that these cook so nicely in a skillet or oven.

3. evol. Butternut Squash & Sage Ravioli - Yum, just yum. I know most people eat a lot of pasta when not eating meat so this is a good alternative. - Cooking methods: microwave or oven.

4. TaDah Falafel Wrap - I actually have not tried this, my mom has. I found it in the Target frozen aisle and thought "Hm, my mom might really like this." and she did. - Cooking methods: microwave or oven. My mom will not use the microwave unless it is the ONLY option, so she used the oven.

5. - evol. Truffle Parmesan Mac & Cheese - Who doesn't like mac and cheese? Really, name me someone who doesn't.. You can't - unless they're lactose intolerant. SO. GOOD. That is all. Oh, and also, I've only seen the evol. foods at Target. - Cooking methods: microwave or oven.

These are obviously also great for people who don't eat meat in general. Do you have other suggestions that fit in the quick and easy category? Next week I'll be sharing some delicious looking "from scratch" options for Lent.

Are you giving up something other than meat for Lent? If so, what? I am. This year I decided to give up Facebook. If you knew me personally, you'd know how tough that is for me. I am trying to not have meat on Fridays also. I will say, this Lent has probably been the most self-reflective for me and honestly, it's been wonderful. I hope you've been having a good Lent this year as well!