Thrift Shop Fashionista

I've always had a thing  for Thrift Shops, Rummage Sales,  Yard Sales and Garage Sales.  Throughout the 1980's, during high school and college, I'd seriously rarely step foot into a department store.  Seriously.  This may be due to the fact that my dear ole dad split when I was a child and left my Mother to raise me by herself. Money was scarce, to say the least.  Considering the situation, Mami did the best she could to provide for me.  Segundas/Thrift shops y la remate/ Sunday auctions are where my wardrobe came from growing up.  No worries.  My Mami is an amazing seamstress and she would alter and add to my second hand duds and I was happy.  As a child I began to take an interest in sewing as well.  I created clothes for myself, my dog, and my dolls.  I've always been a little off beat and once I entered high school, the 1980's began.  Believe it or not, once upon a time, one could not go to the mall to purchase animal print anything.  Hot Topic did not exist, so if you wanted something cool and hip, well, you had to make it yourself.   I hung with a crowd of misfits, like myself,  who frequented the local thrift stores and weekend yard sales.  We were ahead of our time and Project Runway had nothing on us.  Thrift stores where my play land filled with beautiful velvet, lace, mesh, and every animal print fabric imaginable.  Gorgeous 1950's prom dresses, beaded sweaters and stilleto heels were at our disposal to tranform into 1980's chic.  Remember Cyndi Lauper?   She and Madonna were my fashion icons.  Fingerless gloves, tights transformed into leggin's, and accessories and jewelry galore!   Tons of 1960's beatnik left overs satisfied my Quadrophenia Mod fashion phase as well.  I was going to marry Robert Smith from The Cure, but that never panned out.  The 80's was an awesome era to experience and for fashion!  Anywho, yeah.  So fast forward to the mid 1990's.  Grunge was in full force and I still was rocking my Thrift Store ensembles: Combat boots and baby doll dresses.  Sometime toward the end of the 90's things began to change.  I was earning more money and I began to purchase "real" clothes at "real" stores.  I sold out.  I got married which meant more income and more designer shoes, handbags, and clothes:  Lots and lots of clothes.  Did I mention that I LOVE clothes?  Fast forward yet again to 2008 and BAM!  The recession hits.  The DH and I are now unemployed and forced to leave paradise and totally change our way of life. Yes.  we were humbled.  But hey, the ride was fun while it lasted and there is food on the table and I have years of experience being a Thrift Store Fashionista.  So, again,  no worries.  This is the outfit I scored and sported last Easter Sunday at our Family gathering.  Total was under $20 for the entire outfit which includes, purse, jewelry, and shoes.

I scored the top at a thrift store for $1.99

I paid one dollar for the skirt.

 

During a late night ice cream run at Right Aid, I found a really cute pair of flip flops for $6.99.  I, by the way, am a flip flop princess.

The tote was $1.00.  I found it at a church rummage sale last weekend.

I added a silk rose to give the bag a pop of color.  

I purchased a bouquet of 6 silk roses at the 99 Cent Store.  The sugar skull was purchased on Etsy from Arte De Mi Familia. 

This artist rocks!!!  

I use her supplies for my artwork as well.

As for accessories, 

I found these earrings for 99 cents at the  

99 Cent Only Store 

The necklace cost $1.99 at 

Fallas Discount Store.

All together I paid $16.00 for this look. 

 Yes, I am a self proclaimed Thrift Store fashionista. 

I Close My Eyes and I Slipped Away. . . .

It's almost noon day and as usual I have a bazillion and a half things that I'd like to accomplish today, yet here I sit listening to one of my all time favorite "escape" tunes.
Where did all the time go and why was I in such a hurry to "grow up"?  Youth is wasted on the young.

Turn Off Music Above

Work Those Oven Mitts!

 

Oven mitts are for baking and cooking AND for . . . .  

• Changing hot light bulbs
• Grasping a prickly pineapple when cutting one
• Protecting your hands when you hunt for items in your freezer.
• Wax on.  Wax off.  Use an old oven mitt for dusting:  How about one side for waxing and the other for polishing?
• Gardening gloves:  Especially tough jobs like pruning thorny roses
• Back to the wax on/wax off bit:  They work great when you wax and clean your car
• Touching hot engine parts under the hood.
•  Ironing difficult things such as puffed sleeves.  Place an oven mitt on and  slip your mitted hand into the sleeve.  You'll now be able to press into the gathering without flattening the sleeve or creating a crease.     

Even get your man involved with oven mitts!

Here's a clever idea courtesy of   http://www.realsimple.com

Fun with Laundry Baskets

Get creative with your laundry baskets!

• With your pet inside, invert one plastic laundry basket over another and tie the edges together for a handy transportation cage.

• Store your coiled garden hose in a round laundry basket.

• Set a baby who can sit up, in a plastic laundry basket to provide more stability during bath time.  This works for small pets, too!

• Make cleaning fun for the little ones by using a laundry basket as a train engine.  They can play "choo-choo" as they push it from room to room collecting their toys and belongings.

• Sand and paint a piece of plywood, 1/2 inch thick and big enough to extend a foot or so beyond your laundry basket on all sides.  Place the finished wood on top of a basket, either round or rectangular, and use it as a table for youngsters.  When they are finished playing, they can now store toys and games inside the basket! 

• When shopping and running errands, place one in the trunk of your car to hold all of your bags and packages.  You can now simply carry the full basket inside when you get home.

• Guests arriving and you're short on time?  Grab a laundry basket and run through each room picking up all the clutter, magazines, dirty clothes, or whatever you have laying around.  Now stash that laundry basket in a closet.
  

Can you think of any other uses for a laundry basket?

Times Are Tight Tuesday

Sephora is over rated.  Don't get me wrong, I could spend hours in one and seriously want everything in sight, but  IMHO it's all over priced.  Since our forced relocation from the OC to TAPC (the armpit of California),  I'm cutting corners left and right in an attempt to save money and survive.   Lunch break shopping trips to South Coast, have been replace by The Dollar Tree &  The 99 Cent Store, but I'm making the best of it.
Make Sure To Turn The Music Off Above.

Coffee of The Week

I miss the sound of seagulls. I miss the cool mist of the marine layer on my face.  I miss the smell of the ocean.    This past year and a half has not been easy on any of us.  I choose to focus on the positives.  I now enjoy the sound of  doves and a myriad of other birds that nest in our back yard, however, I often wish they would  reenact a scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds" and take care of  the pit bulls which reside to the left of us.    I've traded a misty marine layer for . . .  well, I can't think of a positive,  but I'll get back to you on that one.  I now enjoy the smell of gardenia, jasmine and roses.  But no matter where I am & no matter what surrounds me, one thing will never change. The smell of coffee in the morning.

Coffee of the week:

Cafe Vanilla
This is a fun drink, and simple to make.  With each sip, the natural flavor of the vanilla bean is a special treat that rewards your efforts in preparing this drink.

3/4  cup freshly brewed coffee that is still hot
1/4 vanilla bean
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp brown sugar
ground cinnamon or nutmeg

Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise & place it into a saucepan with the milk & brown sugar.  Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, cover, & let stand for a couple of minutes.  Lift out the vanilla bean and blend the milk mixture in a blender for about 30 seconds, or until it becomes frothy.  Add the hot coffee and top with cinnamon or nutmeg.  Trust me.  This is totally worth pulling out your blender.  Now enjoy with whatever your surroundings may be.
Vanilla Muffins

• 4 cups flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 scant teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Pour milk mixture into the dry ingredients; mix all ingredients thoroughly. Spoon into greased or paper lined muffin tins and bake at 400° for 20 minutes.
Makes about 2 dozen muffins.
                                                 

Yes!!!

I can't say enough about the love of my life.  I cannot fathom life without that liquid magic.  From eggs to fresh fruit and everything in between, Tapatio is a staple in our household.
My life is now complete.

 

Testing 1 2 3. Testing.

Gave the blog a makeover today.  Testing new signature. 
Right on.

Super Simple Last Minute Easter Ham Glazes

Transform your Easter ham into a gourmet treat.

The following was taken from a recent issue of 
Woman's World Magazine.

Brush one of the following glazes over ham during the last 20 minutes of baking.  Yum!

Orange Maple

Mix 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/3 cup maple syrup & 1tbs mustard powder.

Apricot Mustard

Stir together 2/3 cup apricot preserves, 3 Tbs. Dijon mustard & 1tbs.  apple cider vinegar.

Brown Sugar Bourbon

In a small pot, mix 1/2 cup each:  bourbon whiskey & brown sugar.  Add 1 tsp. grated orange zest.  Over low heat, cook mixture until sugar has dissolved & mixture thicken slightly.

Raspberry Thyme

Blend 2/3 cup seedless raspberry jam, 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar & 1/2 tsp dried thyme.

Now Let's get a little Spicy.

South of the Border Especial

Combine 2/3 cup hot pepper jelly, 1 Tbs lime juice & 1tsp garlic powder.

Fruity Chipotle Honey

Drain a 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple, reserving 1/2 cup juice.  Puree pineapple, 1/2 cup honey, 2 tbs apple cider vinegar, & a small chopped yellow onion.  Now add 1/2 tsp. chipotle chile pepper and the reserved juice.

Just typing that made my mouth water.  Happy Easter to all.

Natural Alternatives to Easter Egg Coloring y mas rambling.

 

Bored with the little tablets, caught with no dye or food color in the house, or are you just trying to avoid chemicals and artificial colors?  Here's a little something something that I learned a few Easters ago from my tree hugging, non meat eating, environmentally conscious, 1970's flower child Auntie:  "Natural" Easter egg coloring.  Far out.

 Due note that the colors take longer to sink in than commercial dyes.  With this in mind, let them soak for at least 20 minutes.

Yellow

Dip eggs in 3/4 cup hot water mixed with 1 teaspoon turmeric or curry powder and a splash of vinegar.

Pink

Add 1tsp vinegar to 1 cup canned beet juice & soak eggs in the mixture.  Or try cranberry juice, instead of water, with  3 cans of beets.  This will produce a dark reddish hue. Boiling red onions may not smell to good, but it produces a pretty pinkish purple color.

Orange Red

Boil 3/4 cup water with 1 tablespoon chili powder or paprika  for about a minute.  Add 1 teaspoon vinegar.  Dip eggs in the solution  while it's still hot.

Blue

Boil a chopped up head of red cabbage.  Dipping eggs in this will produce a beautiful blue color.

Red wine will give you a nice violet blue.  Strong coffee or instant coffee results in a  mocha to chocolate brown color and for a golden brown hue, soak eggs in a boiled dill seed brew.

Decorate eggs as usual with stickers and crayons if you'd like. Naturally colored eggs will not be glossy,  but if you want a shiny appearance you can rub a bit of cooking oil onto the eggs once they are dry.  

I remember as a kid coloring Easter eggs with Kool-aid and the making of cascarones the week prior to Easter.  Cascarones are hollowed out egg shells filled with confetti  which are thrown or crushed over peoples heads on Easter Sunday.  Yeah, the Latino culture and traditions are pretty hardcore.  Beginning early each year, instead of cracking an egg open,  mi Abuelita would carefully puncture a small hole at one end of each egg when preparing any meals that included eggs.  She must have made a whole lot of dishes that involved eggs because the week before Easter she'd have a least 2 dozen hollowed out egg shells lined up neatly in their cartons  for each grandchild to transform into cascarones.  I vividly recall us sitting under her large orange tree as we dipped, colored, shredded up magazines & newspaper for confetti, and tissue glued shut  the end of each egg with excited anticipation knowing we would be able to ambush and slam an egg over anybody's head with out consequence.  One Easter my cousin's cascarones were confiscated because the wise guy thought it would be cute to fill his with flour. No one was amused.

Mmmm Cupcakes

Forget the CandyMan.  

The CupCake Lady can! 

If you're in California's Central Valley, Mmmmmm Cupcakes in Clovis, CA has just opened for business.

Click to left to get more information.  These cupcakes are fantastic!

Thank you, Mmmmm Cupcakes for choosing a StinkyMonkey4eva original! 

DIY: Instant Hot Chocolate Mix

I love coffee and chocolate.

Whip up your own hot chocolate mix and save dinero  It's so much less expensive than the pre-measured and packaged stuff you buy at the store. Add 1 cup of powdered milk, 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup white sugar, & 1 tsp salt to a plastic gallon sized food storage bag.  You can also jazz it up by throwing in some mini marshmallows. Seal the bag and shake it up.  That's all there is too it.  Add a few tablespoons to a mug & fill it up with hot water or milk and sit back and enjoy.  Depending on the amount of mix you use per serving, this recipe should give you at least a dozen servings. Storing it in something with an airtight lid will help it stay fresher longer.

Baby Steps

Before becoming a homemaker,  from 7am-5pm, Monday through Friday I was confined within the dirty gray walls of an office cubicle.  In order to be on a Bally's elliptical machine by 5:15 am, I faithfully awoke every weekday morning at 4:30 am.   I did this for 10 years and it was just part of my being.  Late 2009, due to circumstances beyond our control,  our entire world changed.  We where forced to leave our comfortable bubble and lifestyle and enter into a strange new land which I refer to as "The armpit of California". 

The only positive in this is upset is that we now actually own a home with a big back yard  and I am now able to pursue my passion of crafting full time.  

Yeah, our shack house is not much, but it's ours.  

It's amazing what a trip to Walmart and a whole lot of elbow grease will do.  

This video was created a year or so ago and changes have been made since.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to turn off the music.

I'll share more on the magic of thrifty home makeovers in future blogs.  
Stay tuned...

Since relocating to TAPOC (The Arm Pit of Cali),  the word gym has disappeared from my vernacular.  Not surprisingly, I've put on some weight and lost muscle tone as well.   I've tried to justify this with the "Holiday padding" card, but the Holidays have come and gone and we are now nearing the half way point of 2011.  

Yesterday I decided that the chunky monkey look was just not for me, so I pulled out and dusted off a box of workout dvd's which I neglected to unpack.

Baby Steps. . . 

Coffee Is Love

The following is not for the calorie counter

or WW's point tallier. 

Here's a quick and easy spin on some classics.

Live a little and INDULGE.

Mochaccino

In a mug,  place a heaping tablespoon  full 

of semisweet chocolate chips. 

Add hot coffee and stir it up until it's dissolved.  

Stir in sugar to taste and top it off with a pinch of cinnamon. 

I'd suggest adding whipped cream but I don't care much for it.  

If you're into whipped cream, by all means add some.

Mochachinno Smoothie

In a blender pour one 6oz container of chocolate yogurt, a squeeze of chocolate syrup, 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules, and 1 cup of ice cubes.  Blend it all up and enjoy. 

Malted Vanilla Cream

Blend milk, coffee and  malted milk powder in

a saucepan over low heat. 

Add a drop of vanilla extract and stir. 

Once heated thoroughly, serve sprinkled with 

a pinch of malted milk powder.  

Whipped cream fans, knock yourselves out.

 Cafe Mexicano con Chocolate (Gringo version)

Pour a packet of instant hot chocolate into a cup of  hot coffee.  Add a little milk to your liking.  

Throw in a fair amount of cinnamon and a pinch of chile powder. 

Mix it all up y es todo.

Now on to the fun stuff.

 

Irish Coffee

In a mug, stir in whiskey and sugar till you get the taste you like.  

Now add some hot coffee.  

Mmmm, yeah buddy.

Although it is not coffee, a Brandied Toddy is most definitely worth adding to the list. 

Yummy Yum Yum

Brandied Toddy

Prepare a cup of hot tea.  

Add honey and a little sugar to taste.  

Stir in brandy.  Top with a lemon slice and sprinkle with nutmeg.

 24/7:  Coffee is pure Heaven!

Lip Balm

Aaaaah, coffee.  

From where I sit to blog I can hear the coo's of the doves that nest in our back yard.  I friggin' love that sound. This is the most favorite part of my day. Once my husband is off to work and my daughter has left for school, I sit back and enjoy the solitude.  Well, I'm not entirely alone.  We have 3 black cats to keep me company throughout my day.  We are partial to black cats. Now that my youngest is a working college student, I consider my 3 furry ebony balls of love, my babies.  Anywho, this morning happened without incident.  Yesterday morning was not a nice morning, but I won't go into the dirty details.  Let's just say that I seriously do EVERYTHING around this joint and all I ask is that one day a week the trash be set out on the curb the night before trash day.  I'm not sure what was uglier:  My screeching, which probably woke up the neighbors, around 6:45AM or the sight of my pastie self rolling out the trash and recycle bin in my bathrobe.  Kooks. 

Kooks is in reference to my family, not my  neighbors.  I've got a few choice words for the people who live to our right, but this is a PG rated blog.

I'd really love to do some gardening today, but I'm preparing for a local Mother's Day Boutique and I've got tons of crafting and sewing to do. I'm out of lip balm and I really need to go to the store to pick up a few other things as well, but I just don't feel like leaving my cozy little pad this morning. 

Lip Balm.  Lip Balm.  Lip Balm. 

Hm.  I just came up with the title of this blog.

"Lip Balm"  

I often times feel like I'm on information over load.

Uses for Lip Balm

*Keep hair dye from staining your face by applying lip balm around your hair line, forehead and earlobes.  Do this before applying hair dye.  The lip balm will act as a barrier and you'll be stain free.

*Don't tug on a stuck ring.  Just apply lip balm to the area & gently wiggle the ring around until it slides off.

*Lubricate a sticky zipper by rubbing some lip balm over a zipper's teeth.  Now zip open & zip close a few times. Presto!

* Stop the sting and seal a bleeding nick when shaving, by dabbing some unscented lip balm to the cut.

*Salvage a scratched Cd by applying lip balm to the cd's surface and then buffing it out thoroughly with a clean soft cloth.

*Lip balm will soften chapped heels, knuckles, or elbows.  It helps soothe chapped noses, but make sure you don't use it on your nose then on your lips.  ew. 

*Tames unruly eyebrows just as good as pricey brow gels. Hair gel works great on brows too.

*Use it as a cuticle cream.  Great for the prevention of hang nails.

*Makes a great makeup mistake eraser.  If , when applying your makeup, you accidentally get mascara  where it doesn't belong, dip a cotton swab into your lip balm and erase the mascara right off.

*Tames flyaway hair strands and seals split ends.

And finally my favorite:  

If you coat the threads to an outdoor light bulb with lip balm before screwing it in place, you'll prevent the outdoor bulb from getting stuck in the socket.

There's no need to purchase the fancy stuff like Burt's Bee Wax.  The generic stuff at the Dollar Tree or other discount places works just fine.

Okay. I'm done.

Lip balm!!!

Finally

I love Holidays.  I'm the neighbor whose home is always decked out a month before a Holiday, but  I totally lagged this Spring and Easter. There are only 9 days until Easter and I finally set out a Spring/Easter wreath.   It's amazing what one finds at the Dollar Tree and at yard sales.  Here's what I finally whipped up earlier today.

  Not too shabby

 

This thing cost under 5 bucks to make.  Now you can't beat that.

 

Dear Yankee Candle, Buh Bye.

A week or so ago I announced to FacebookLand that I was going to begin yet another project/obsession:
Candle Making!

At $25 a pop,  I was seriously spending close to $100 a month on candles.  As much as I LOVE candles, that was just plain silly.  I did a little research on the web and found this excellent tutorial on soy candle making.

I then shopped around on Etsy and Ebay and purchased the needed supplies.

The soy wax chips finally arrived day before yesterday 

and 

Ta da!!!

Mmmmmmmmmm.

Yummy!

Carmel latte, Dark chocolate fudge, Cinnamon latte, y  Dulce de Leche.

This was so incredibly easy to do and I'm going to save tons of money from now on.

I'm  waiting for a few other fragrance oils to arrive, so I can whip up a  more candles.
Banana cream pie and Irish cream coffee, you can't get here soon enough.

I'm now ready to learn how to make decorative soap!

Lip Lowdown

Dear busy domestic goddesses,     

No lipstick looks hot on flakey chapped lips.  ew.  Exfoliate those babies by applying a chapstick/lip balm to your lips. Then gently and firmly brush them with a tooth brush.  Your lips will now be oh so smooth and ready for lipstick. 

Remember that using lip balm under dark lipsticks, or any lipstick for that matter, can make the color separate.  Instead of purchasing one of those pricey lip primers, dab a little of your facial moisturizer on your lips.  The moisturizer will fill in any cracks your lips may have without becoming gooey.  Live a little and go bold with your lip color.  A punch of color will liven up any complexion.  Because this domestic goddess is constantly on the go and  doesn't like the feeling of lipstick on her lips,  I prefer lip stains.  Did you know that you can whip up your very own lip stain with jello?  Check it out.  I recently discovered that NYC cosmetics now has their own line of  lip stains called Smooch Proof 16 Hr.  LOVE them!!  I was previously using Revlon's Just Bitten Lip Stain, but I can honestly state IMHO that NYC kicks Revlon's butt in the lip stain arena.  I found Revlon's stain to be a bit dry in comparison to NYC's version.  Besides,  Smooch Proof 16 is almost half the price of Just Bitten, so that's a huge plus as far as I'm concerned.  

Besos!! 

   

Me man. You woman.

"Well, you have a coffee problem!"  This was my husband's retort when I began to "nag" this morning about his dirty underpants on the floor,  the remains of his mid night snack on top of  the bedroom TV, and his annoying habit of NEVER pushing in the dinning room chair after his meals.  I continued barking about the fact  that although, I may no longer work outside the home, I had zillions of things to do and that I refused to spend the better part of my day cleaning up after  his ass. Yeah, I typed ass.  "Ass" is in the Bible, so it's cool.

"I work very hard!", he snorted.  Seething inside I sucked it up, once again, and calmed the beast by smiling and agreeing that he was a good provider. I then pouted and in my cutest child like voice asked if he would pleeeeeze try to pick up after himself.  On cue, he agreed to try harder.  Sheeesh.  

I know I wear the pants in this household and deep down inside that sucker knows I do too. I love him and I married him, knowing full well what I was getting myself into with this one.  

So for the next couple of weeks his dirty underpants will magically find their way into the hamper.  He will clean up after his mid night snacks and his chair will be pushed in after each meal.  But as sure as the sun will rise,  my big strong handsome cave man will begin to slack and his sweet perfect housewife will show her fangs once again.

Free Easter Recipes

Free Easter eCookbook 

Woohoo!

 

Click Here

Bean Cookie Fiasco

With all modesty aside, ask anybody & they will tell you that I am a a great cook and an even better baker.  Seriously, people LOVE my cakes, cookies, pastries, pies, and pan dulce. 

Well,  Rocco's Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies just blemished my stellar rep.

Last night's attempt to bake these things was a complete and utter disaster.  Maybe it was because I began to bake late on a Sunday evening when all  I really just wanted to do was take a candle lit bath and catch up on some American Dad reruns with my husband.  Maybe it was because when I glanced over the recipe and saw the words, food processor, sifter, and stiff egg white peaks, a sudden wave of hesitation came over me.  The bubble bath sounded more appealing, but I had already told my daughter and husband that I was going to bake chocolate chip cookies and I didn't want to disappoint them.  My laziness and corner cutting in this case, lead to bean cookie hell. 

Instead of taking the time to go to the mudroom to get the stepladder, so I could reach the shelf where my self standing mixing bowl is kept,  I chose to use the hand mixer.  It was all down hill from this point.  Forming stiff egg whites takes time and should not be done when you are preoccupied with thoughts of warm candle lit bubble baths, snuggling with your husband, and chuckling at the antics of  American Dad's Roger.   I do not recommend using a hand held mixer, as opposed to a stand on its own mixer , when beating egg whites.  I just turned for a split second.  I truly thought the mixer was securely propped.  It was wedged between the bread box and  microwave, so what gives?  In the instant that I took my hand off the mixer and reached for the recipe,  BAM!!!!!  A sugary egg white explosion ensued.  Hijo de la gran....yeah.  I spent the next 10-15 minutes cleaning that sticky mess which clung from the ceiling to the  floor and every nook and cranny in between.  After cleaning up, I was so over those egg whites and figured they were peaked and stiff enough. How wrong I was.  Step by step, I followed Rocco's recipe to the T. 

I'm not sure what went wrong, but something most certainly did.

Instead of cookie dough, I ended up with a runny brown sauce.  Since I obviously could not form cookies from this mess, I had hoped to bake it as brownie type cake and cut it into squares .  I placed this chocolate bean soup into the oven.  As this thing was baking,  my daughter asked if I was making pizza and my husband asked why I was frying chicken so late.

The final result was not cool.

Into the trash it went. 

I would love to hear of someone, other than Rocco, who has had success with this recipe.

Maybe it was my limp egg peaks that done me in.  Whateva, I hope I have more success with his other recipes, since I have already impulsively purchased his book.

Oy Vey.

Rocco DiSperito

So I just found out about this guy.

Yeah, I guess I don't get out much. I came across a few of his recipes in one of the latest issues of  

Woman's World Magazine.  Eat your favorite comfort foods and still lose weight? Well hot damn! 

I'm all over that concept. Without missing a beat, I just purchased one of his books. I sincerely need to stop my nasty habit of impulse buying, which I am notorious for:(

I'm going to try his Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe tonight. I'm very curious as to how chocolate chip cookies made with cannellini beans will taste. Sounds gnarly to me, but we shall see. 

I'll share my family's verdict on the bean cookies tomorrow.

Keep to the Beat

If a typical day in my life had a sound track, it would be the following.

Personality Crisis

In a Perfect World

Some days I just want to do nothing at all but lie around and watch TV while I eat really bad foods.

I think the last time I did this was in 1985.