DIY lingerie (EASY!)

Check out my new blog!

The Chic Bag Chick

So, as all of us ladies know, Valentine’s Day is coming up quickly! For a lot of women, that involves a pretty piece of lingerie, rose petals, wine, chocolate covered strawberries, etc.

Most of the time, my husband and I get a cool hotel room, themed or special somehow, and relax for a couple days. This year, however, work has been slow to nonexistent the past few months, so money is not a luxury we have at the moment (as evidenced by my excitement in finding a cheap casserole we eat almost every night lol). So…this year, Valentine’s must be on a budget. I love planning fun surprises for my Love, it’s not really his forte to plan those kinds of things, and I don’t mind being the planner, because he enjoys the surprises so much, it makes it all worth it, just to see his eyes light up. 🙂

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New blog!

I’m working on creating a new blog that will be both business and pleasure. My goal is not to only market stuff to people, but to just include my favorite things with my everyday life blog! I found out I cannot have wheat/gluten a few months back, and it’s been an interesting journey, so I’d love for y’all to check out my new blog and leave feedback! 🙂

Www.chicbagchick.com

Taco meat uses!

I’ve been horrible about blogging lately!
I recently started a diet, and have been desperately seeking easy and quick, yet healthy options. Not easy lol.
One of my recent favs is taco meat in sweet peppers! We made taco salad as well, just in case we didn’t like them…but we ended up loving them!
So here’s how to do it:
Brown your lean ground meat, and add taco seasoning as usual.
Then cut up your sweet peppers (we got a bunch from costco!), and add the taco meat!
How easy is that????

#healthyeating
#hcgdiet
#groundbeefuses
#sweetpepperuses

Give a Boxy Shirt and Sweater A New Feminine Silhouette

Love this! !

The Renegade Seamstress

Why, oh why, do I do this every winter?

Those snacks and treats that I would NEVER pay any attention to, much less have a relationship with in the summer keep finding their way into my life and into my mouth this time of year. French fries, donuts, and yes, even large quantities of cheese puffs seem harmless to me when it’s cold and dreary outside.

Until one day, my little “I Can Eat Anything I Want” fantasy turns into a “Getting Dressed in the Morning” nightmare. As one outfit after another is rejected and thrown on the floor and the pile becomes bigger and bigger, I wonder who’s body has taken me hostage. Each outfit is abandoned as it literally stretches the limits of appropriate work wear and my options become very limited.

That’s when I reach for those boxy shirts and sweaters.

Although they may be comfortable and hide a multitude of sins…

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Peppers with goat cheese

This idea struck me today,  and after trying it,  it was a success!  🙂
A nice super easy snack!
I sliced up some yummy sweet peppers,  and filled them with goat cheese (I kind of had to “smoosh” it in haha! ):

Then I added a bit of basil,  dill, and garlic salt:

And…. voila!  Yummy goodness,  and pretty dang healthy!

It’s been so long…

It’s been forever since I posted on here. .. we’ve been treading water, just trying to make it through,  since we lost yet another baby,  and there is something about a grand total of 5 babies lost that just eats away at your soul.  We’ve been trying desperately to get on top of our expenses,  so we’ve been working like crazy to do so,  which has left me no time or energy for crafting. One of my goals is to make more time for it in 2015, though,  as it helps me when I’m in “the depths of despair,” as Anne Shirley calls it.  😉

One new hobby I’ve picked up,  though,  is Jamberry nails! I’ve long given up on nails,  since I’m a nurse,  and first of all have to keep them short,  and secondly am very hard on them so polish wears off within a day tops.  So when I found these, I was so happy!  They last at least a 6 times longer than polish on me,  and are way cheaper than getting manicures!  They’re $15 per sheet,  which is enough for 2 full manicures and 2 full pedicures! Plus,  there is a buy 3 get 1 free deal!
Well,  I won’t bore you with the details,  but I’ll leave you with my most recent jamicure,  and some links if you want to check them out. You can also email me at jamwithjessbruner@gmail.com if you want to know more! 🙂

Cheering on my cousin at her NAU bball game!

Check out these links:
Www.jessbruner.jamberrynails.net (where you can buy)

Www.jamwithjess.com
(My jam blog)

Www.facebook.com/jamwithjessbruner
(Where I post lots of deals and pictures!)

I will also send anyone who wants a free sample to try,  because they are THAT great!  And less than $5 for a manicure!  🙂

Baked/broiled zucchini with cheese!

Ok, this is so delicious! I had some zucchini like this at a family gathering, so I decided to try it. I sliced my zucchini thinner accidentally, so it turned out a bit different, but I actually liked it!

So, to start:

1 preferably large zucchini (larger slices are easier to prepare and eat, although little ones are also fun and turn out more like chips!)

johnny’s garlic spread and seasoning, found at costco

Shredded cheese of your choice (I used the colby jack blend at costco)

Steps:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Slice zucchini

Place slices on cooking sheet and sprinkle Johnny ‘ s garlic spread on top (for the smaller slices, be careful to put very little…it comes out too strong).

Bake for approx 10-15 minutes, less for thinner and smaller slices (unless you want them crispier, which is quite tasty!).

Then pull them out and sprinkle cheese on top, turn the oven to broil, and place back inside without moving the rack up at all.

Take out as soon as the cheese is bubbly and slightly brown…
The thinner ones looked like this (they were a little more on the crispy side, and absolutely delicious!):

The thicker slices turned out like this (they were closer to regular cooked zucchini consistency, and also very delicious):

I think in the future, I’ll actually make some of each! Haha
They are super easy to make, don’t require a lot of prep time, and since you can’t really just throw them in the oven and leave, I used the few-minute intervals to prepare the next batch!

Happy cooking!

Repeat tilapia

The tilapia was so good, we decided to repeat it, but with rice and asparagus…
Turned out amazing… Next time I think I’ll put the asparagus in the dish and cook it for about 10 minutes first,  then add the tilapia and cook all for the 15 min. 

Again with my fancy dinnerware. ..lol. One day I’m gonna unpack my real dishes!

Tilapia and mashed potatoes…mmm!

I’ve never cooked. My mom never cooked…so I never learned.
Now I have a husband, and not being a cooking, cleaning, ironing little wife just frustrates me. I’m doing good if I make a sandwich, ok?
So thanks to pinterest, I’ve decided to start trying to improve my cooking skills.
I decided to brave tilapia, since we bought some at costco. I love tilapia, but truthfully I’ve never cooked it, other than the pre- made microwave box dinners… *blush*
So…I decided to try this recipe.
It was delicious… I didn’t have parsley so I nixed that, and my dill came out of a bottle, but it tasted great. I added a little lemon pepper and garlic salt before baking and it was delish!
Add some garlic and herb mashed potatoes and voila!
Next time I think I’ll add asparagus, and maybe try it with rice instead of potatoes
!
Anyway, I think this is a new favorite, and there are quite a few variations that would go well with it.

(Like my fancy dinnerware? Lol)

Until my next pinterest attempt…
Happy cooking!

Delicious and easy meatballs! !

My coworker brought in the most delicious meatballs, and when I asked her for the recipe, I almost didn’t believe her…
So I tried it myself!

Ingredients:
1 medium-large jar (not costco size but not tiny) grape jelly
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
Frozen pre-cooked meatballs

Dump the BBQ sauce and jelly into your crockpot. .. it looks absolutely disgusting:

I whisked it as best as I could:

Dump the meatballs in and stir…

Cook on high for 3 hours (or low for 6), I stirred occasionally since it was on high…
And then…mmmmm!!!

Happy easy cooking!