The Musings of a Working Mom

The theme for this month's Ipsy bag is "Beach Beauty".  The bag is transparent pink and perfect for stowing your favorite beach or pool beauty items.  Included in this month's bag are: -COOLA Mineral Face SPF 20 Rose Essence Tinted Moisturizer -Benefit Benetint -BH Cosmetics California Collection Eyeshadow Trio -POP Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Rose Romance -Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof Humidity Resistant Spray Have you subscribed to Ipsy yet ?  I have to honestly say that this beauty subscription is much better than Birchbox which I had subscribed to last year.  The products that you get with Ipsy are better, much more usable, and the samples are very generous in size (versus Birchbox which sent way too many foil packets or perfume samples that you can easily get by placing an online order or asking for samples at a cosmetics counter).  Well worth my $10/month subscription rate!!  Give it a try...

Photo credit: someone posted on IG 'Nuff said.  We are half way through 2013 but for the remainder of this year, try to make a concerted effort to eliminate the "CRAP" in your diet.  You only have one body and trust me, your body will thank you after you stop eating CRAP.  Aim to eat wholesome and healthy foods.  If you can't read or understand the ingredients in the foods you eat - Don't Eat It!!  Stick with your fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats.  Good Luck and as always, Be Happy and Healthy!!!

So my sister makes a mean fresh homemade salsa - although she tends to make it way too spicy for my liking but I decided to give it a go and here is the result: Looks delish, right?  The recipe is actually very simple and you can add or subtract to it as you wish.   Ingredients 3-4 large tomatoes, diced - reserve 1 finely chopped tomato for the end 1 can Rotel Tomatoes 1 large onion, cut into chunks 1 small red onion, chopped - reserve for the end  1+ jalapeño pepper(s) - add more if you like or omit altogether 2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped Lemon juice Ground Cumin Salt  Oregano Directions Place the garlic in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Then add the fresh and canned tomatoes (remember to reserve 1 tomato, chopped for the end), onions and jalapeño pepper(s) and pulse.  Finely add the seasons and lemon juice and pulse until combined.  Taste and season to your personal liking.  Finally ...

Well, even though we are half way through the month, I finally received my Ipsy bag yesterday...but that's OK because the bag is super cute and the contents are pretty good too!  I do have to say that the NYX Mosaic Powder was completely shattered but I contacted Ipsy about it and they said that they will send me a replacement product - pretty good customer service if you ask me;) The theme for this month is "On The Wild Side".... My June Ipsy bag contained: -First off the bag is an adorable leopard print pouch - smaller in size than previous months bags but so cute and perfect for your handbag! -NYX Mosaic Powder in Dare (12) - full size -Star Looks Lip Liner in Tickle Me Pink - full size -Chella Cosmetics Brow Highlighter Pencil in Ivory Lace - full size -J.Cat Beauty Sparkling Cream Palette in Suzie (SCP107) - full size -PSSSST! the True Original: Instant Dry Shampoo - Travel size

Here's another variation on our grilled pizza - Spinach, Mushrooms & Ricotta Pizza. This one was easy!  I sautéed a bag of baby spinach in some extra virgin Spanish olive oil (from Trader Joe's) along with some crushed red pepper flakes and finely minced garlic (remove from pan and set aside when done).  In the same pan, add some more EVOO and saute 6 oz baby bella mushrooms on med heat until brown.  Add some salt along the way to help the mushrooms "sweat" out it's liquids.  Once brown, I added a splash of Dry Sherry and sauteed until all of the liquid had cooked off.  When done, remove cooked mushrooms from the pan and set aside.  Now comes the easy part.  As per my original grilled pizza recipe, I roll out the pizza dough (from Trader Joe's) and cook it on one side on the grill for about 4 minutes.  Remove from the grill, flip and top w/toppings - drizzle with EVOO, spinach, mushrooms & dollops of ricotta and place back onto the grill...

With 3 kids to feed each night, I have to find easy, creative and delicious meals to serve them to avoid the late evening meltdowns.  Well one afternoon, with the kids finishing their homework, I looked up to realize that dinner time was way too close with nothing on the stove or even in the works!! YIKES!!  What to do??   Now I could just resort to making pasta, but they eat pasta like every other day! So I wanted to feed them something different.  I opened the fridge to scan my shelves and see what I could make....and then a Pinterest picture came to mind:  pizzas made in a muffin tin.  I don't recall ever seeing the recipe but I figured that I could come up with it on my own.  So I fished out the canned biscuits, pizza sauce, and shredded cheese.  Yep, that's it!    Preheat the oven to 350F (or whatever temp is listed on the biscuit package).  I sprayed the muffin tin with some Pam.  Placed and spread each biscu...

The theme for this month is "Spring Fling".  Given the theme, I thought that this month's bag would be floral but instead it is a blue/teal/orange chevron pattern...still super cute!  I am very pleased with this month's beauty products...including a full size Zoya polish which retails for $9.00. So here are the products inside this month's Ipsy bag: 1.   Zoya Nail Polish in Jacqueline (full size) - this polish is new from the Spring 2013 Lovely Collection. 2.   NuMe Finishing Serum (10mL) - this finishing serum protects, seals, and treats your hair. 3.   Pacifica Island Vanilla Perfume Roll-On (10mL) - this perfume is 100% vegan, cruelty free, free of parabens, phthalates and propylene glycol.  The scent of this perfume: Tahitian vanilla, loved for its fruity and slightly floral aroma, is anchored with rich Bourbon vanilla notes. 4.   Juice Beauty Reflecting Gloss in Champagne (.14 fl oz) 5.   Yaby Concealer in Buff.  This will ...