The Musings of a Working Mom

My family and I have been on a quinoa kick lately.  We've been trying quite a few variations on healthy quinoa salads.  Today's variation is Greek themed.  Note that I don't have exact measurements as I just "chop and drop" as I go...that's the kind of cook that I am - Sorry!   In any case, I added about 3 cups of cooked quinoa (1 cup quinoa cooked in 2 cups low sodium veg stock) to chopped red onion, chopped cucumber, chopped artichoke hearts, chopped baby spinach, rough chopped olives, marinated feta (from the Whole Foods olive bar), and chopped fresh mint.  I combined all of this (along with some salt and pepper to taste) and added a homemade Greek vinaigrette (from the Food Network, Ina Garten recipe: 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/4 cup good red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup good olive oil Directions For the vinaigrette, whisk together th

It's here - my September Ipsy bag!!  I am so excited about this month's bag.  I had seen sneak peeks of it last week and couldn't wait until I got mine. I absolutely love the bag this month...which goes with this month's theme "Classic Beauty". How gorge is this bag?? This month's goodies: 1.  Starlooks Kohl Eye Pencil in Obsidian 2.  Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple 3.  NYX Eye Shadow Single in Morocco 4.  Butter London Nail Lacquer Vernis in LA Moss (half size) 5.  It's So Big Volumizing Mascara in Black I am super excited about everything I got this month!!  I love NYX eye shadows - they are so pigmented and inexpensive to purchase.  And this color is just gorgeous -  perfect for this time of the year!! I love the Butter London polishes - with the exception of the price tag ($15 for the full size bottle).  So excited to have this one.  And I love this color for the fall. The liner is very pigmented and soft

I love the fall - wearing scarves, boots, sweaters and the sweet smell of pumpkin anything.  I love all things pumpkin!!  I really had a hankering for something pumpkin but I wanted to make "it" quick and easy...that's where Pinterest comes in!  I found an easy "2 ingredient recipe" for Pumpkin Muffins.   What are the 2 ingredients you ask?  Well I'm sure you can guess that one of the ingredients is canned pumpkin and the second is plain old Yellow Cake Mix (any brand will do).  And that's it...mix the two ingredients and place in muffin tin (spray the muffin tin with cooking spray to help with easy removal).  Place the muffins in a preheated oven at 350 F and bake for 20-25 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean).  I also added a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg (to add some pumpkin pie flavor) while mixing and sprinkled a bit of organic turbinado sugar on the top to give it that lovely crunch that I love on my muffin tops.  These came out de

OK, now I know that it's been a very, very long time since I've posted anything beauty related but quite honestly, I haven't really purchased anything new and I've just been using up what I have.  Actually, that was one of my 2013 New Years resolution - 1) to not buy anymore makeup and 2) to use up the products that I already have.  After taking inventory of my makeup collection, I noticed that I purchased a lot, and I mean A LOT of makeup products in 2012.  And I came to the realization that I really need to use up what I have before I buy any more.  Ok I did buy a couple of new things;)  So anyway, sorry for the lack of beauty related articles. "Simple and Easy" has been my make-up motto for the past couple of months!  I haven't been in the mood for complicated and fussy make-up so I have resorted to finding products that are multi-purpose and pack a big punch.   I have really liked the effect of using a concealer (specifically the Tarte Maracuja Cre

My kids love Sloppy Joes and what's not to love?  They have an excuse to eat messily and get food all over themselves!  But I really don't like canned sloppy joe sauces - they are too sweet and loaded with nasty, unhealthy ingredients, so I decided to make my own homemade sauce.  And thanks to the internet...more specifically Food Network (one of my favorites), one of the first recipes that popped up was a Rachel Ray recipe.  I looked it over and saw that I had almost all of the ingredients and I read most of the ratings and reviews and made some adjustments to the recipe to suit my kids' taste.   Cooks notes: I used 80/20 beef and drained the excess oil/water out before proceeding with the recipe below.   Two of my kids are not big fans of bell peppers so I substituted grated carrots instead (and they had no idea that it was in the recipe).   I also reduced the Montreal Steak seasoning to 1 1/2 teaspoons so it wouldn't be too spicy for my kids.   I did not have