Taste of Tuesday: Chicken Taco Soup

Another successful recipe accomplished this week!

Ingredients:

 

4 chicken breasts (cut in halves)

1 onion, chopped

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 small can chopped green chillies (undrained)

1 (15 oz) can black beans

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn

1 package taco seasoning

1 can or bottle beer  

Yup. Beer is needed for this recipe.

Add the onion, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, green chillies, black beans, corn and taco seasoning into a crockpot and mix together. Pour in the beer and mix.

Add the chicken breasts to with mixture and cover. Set the crock pot to high for 2.5 hours

 

 After 2.5 hours, remove chicken breasts from the crock pot and allow to cool so that you can shred the chicken by hand. Stir the chicken back into the soup and allow to cook for another 30 minutes before serving.

Optional ingredients are sour cream and shredded cheese for the topping, which both have low-fat options so you can keep this a skinny soup recipe.

Joining Ashley and Jessica for Taste of Tuesday.

 

Enjoy!

Weekend Whereabouts

What a fun-filled weekend! I swear this time of year becomes crazy with holiday parties and festivities every weekend to keep you going nonstop. 

On Friday, K and I did dinner and a movie date night. We went to see Bad Grandpa which was hilarious! I definitely recommend it for a good laugh.

 

Saturday was packed full. I went to get my hair "did" in the morning and then we checked in to the Gaylord Palms resort for a company event that night. The atrium-style hotel is truly gorgeous and we had some fun at the bar with coworkers after the company dinner.

On Sunday, we checked out of the hotel, stopped at the Outlet mall to get some things crossed off my Christmas shopping list and then finally got to relax at home the rest of the day.

Don't forget to enter my Beauty Bag Giveaway going on now to win goodies from Mac, VS, Estee Lauder and lots more!

Joining Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

How was your weekend?

Blogiversary: Beauty Bag Giveaway!

Hey lovelies!

Today is the 1st anniversary since my little Martinis & Bikinis space joined the bloggy world SO I wanted to celebrate it right! My blog got a fabulous new design that I LOVE from Erin @ Love, Fun & Football & I wanted to reward my lovely readers with something fun!

I've put together a beauty bag with some of my favorites products from MAC, Victoria's Secret, ULTA, Estee Lauder & more.
One winner gets it all!

Beauty Bag includes:

~ VS Pure Seduction Shimmer Lotion

~ VS Love Spell Body Spray

~ VS Purple Tote Bag

~ Pureology Pure Volume Hair Care Set

~ Estee Lauder Makeup Remover

~ Estee Lauder Lipstick

~ Gold Headband

~ The "Wet" Brush 

~ ULTA Lip gloss, Lipstick, Mascara & Mini Nail polish

~ Set of 3 MAC Smokey Thrillseekers Pigments

Here's a close up of the MAC Pigments ($36 value) which is one of the highlights of winning this giveaway.

Please enter below to win and feel free to share this giveaway with your readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Rules:
*Open to U.S. residents only.
*Honest entries only. If you're not honest with your entries, they will be deleted.
*Must reply to email within 48 hours to claim the beauty bag or a new winner will be chosen.


Thanks so much for entering!

As usual, I'm joining Lauren for H54F.

I hear it's Cruise Season?

No, unfortunately, I'm not going on one myself BUT I am traveling home to Trinidad & Tobago for the holidays (which is in the 90s all year long) so I guess this post is relevant to me too. Don't hate if you're already experiencing snow...it's always good to dream!

Here's some of my must haves for a tropical vacay:

Roxy Bags · Ray-Ban Sunglasses · Vitamin A Two-Piece Swimwear

My favorite is the Roxy insulated cooler tote. I personally own one of these and they are super handy for keeping drinks cold at the pool or beach without lugging around a big cooler.

I also ran across Swimspot.com because they offer a bikini builder tool that helps you find the perfect swimsuit for your body type and they also sell some of my favorite swimsuit brands including Hurley, Guess and Reef. This is one that was selected for my body type and I kinda do love it:

Use SWIM4 to save 10% off  your purchase valid through 11/15!

Do you have any vacations or tropical trips planned for the near future?

Day & Night Makeup Favorites

Decided to talk about some of my favorite beauty products that I use regularly and have come to love over the years. 

Daytime Makeup: 

I aim for a more natural look during the day so I use very basic products and neutral colors for my eyes.

Revlon Liquid Foundation · Ulta Eyeliner · M·A·C Eye Shadow

~Almay liquid liner (upper eye)
~Ulta gel eyeliner in black (lower eye)
~ Clinique True Bronze pressed powder bronzer - (to prevent the pasty white look)
~Maybelline Flasies mascara
~ Mac powder eyeshadow pigments

~ Revlon PhotoReady foundation

Nighttime Makeup: 

I use many of the same daytime products plus a few extras to "step it up a notch" and achieve more a bold look especially for my eyes. I rarely wear bright lipsticks or dark eye shadow colors since my skin is on the fair side.

M·A·C Mascara · Sephora Makeup · Smashbox Eyes Concealer/Shadow Base

~ Urban Decay eye shadow primer
~Smashbox concealer (for blemishes or dark spots)
~Tarte foundation (for heavier coverage)
 ~Sephora Luminizer
~The original Naked Palette of eye shadow colors - absolute favorite!

~Mac Haute & Naughty Mascara: Has two brushes-in-one-tube for either a natural look or dramatic eyes. I really love this mascara for achieving bolder eyes for going out at night.

What's your favorite beauty product to get bold eyes for nighttime wear?

Taste of Tuesday: Skinny Lasagna

By replacing lasagna pasta with slices of zucchini and using ground turkey instead of beef you can make a guilt-free lasagna that tastes just as great. I made this recipe on Sunday and we loved it.

Ingredients:

1 pack Ground Lean Turkey
1 jar Marinara or Spaghetti Sauce
4 Zucchinis sliced 1/8" thick
Ricotta Cheese
16 oz pack Shredded Cheese (Mozzarella or Four Cheese)
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
1 Egg
2 tsp olive oil
Pam Spray
4 Garlic cloves (grounded/chopped)
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Cut zucchini into 1/8" slices and baste with a olive oil and garlic. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes until cooked.

Cook the ground turkey with 1 tsp olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper until fully cooked. Mix marinara sauce into the pan with ground turkey.

Mix egg, ricotta cheese and parmesan cheese in a bowl.

Grease or spray casserole dish with Pam and layer the bottom with some turkey & sauce mixture. Top with slices of zucchini and layer some ricotta mixture over the zucchini. Finally sprinkle a layer of shredded cheese over the ricotta mixture. Repeat this process with a layer of sauce, then zucchini, then ricotta mixture and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Heat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 1 hour or until top layer of cheese starts to become golden.

Joining Jessica and Ashley for Taste of Tuesday.

  Enjoy!

Weekend Happenings

Hello Monday, we meet again (boo)!

Just a quick weekend recap. Didn't get a whole lot of fun photos but had a great time catching up with friends, shopping & drinking mimosas ;-)

On Friday night, we met up with Kate and her hubby at a comedy club to use some free tickets we both had. The comedians were hilarious and we had a great time catching up!

On Saturday, I went to get a facial ($39 from groupon) and did some early Christmas shopping for my sister and best friend's new baby girl back home in Trinidad

Saturday night, the weather was shitty so K and I stayed in and watched The Internship (with Owen Wilson & Vince Vaughn) and ordered some take out.

On Sunday, we met up with a couple friends for brunch at my favorite little spot downtown that serves the best food and HUGE mimosas.

Joining Sami for Weekend Shenanigans,

Hope you had a great weekend!

Halloween Friday '13

I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween yesterday whether you took part in the festivities or just lounged on the couch with some wine and your favorite TV shows.

Here's a quick weekly Friday recap:

#1: Our bucket of candy that we handed to the neighborhood kids last night.

#2: Finally earned platinum membership with ULTA. Woot! More bonus points and free stuff ;-)

#3: Spoiled myself with this pretty facial cleansing system. Has anyone tried the Clarisonic Mia or Olay Pro-X... what do you think?

#4: I enjoyed some Angry Orchard Apple Cider after work a few nights this week. It's delicious!

#5: The company bought us Jersey Mike's subs for lunch yesterday which was pretty dang good. Never tried them before.

What's your plans for the weekend?

Joining Lauren and Darcie for Five on Friday.

Happy Friday!

Shopping Steals of the Week

I had a little too much fun shopping last weekend but all in all I found some really great deals that I wanted to share. 

Kohl's

Vera Wang Dress for $39.99 (plus 20% off coupon)

 Marshall's

Michael Kors sandals for $39.99

Express

Black & Silver Wristlet: $19.99 (plus I used some coupons)

I've become a huge fan of express because of the quality of their clothes but also the amount of coupons and deals they send out.The current offer is $25 off every $100 you spend with code 2880.

ULTA Beauty 

Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System on sale for $25.49 which came with a free 9-piece gift bag & samples.

 Walmart
Electric toothbrush for less than $5?

I've been wanting an electric toothbrush for the longest time so when I ran into these Arm & Hammer Spinbrushes for only $4.95, I had to buy one for K and I. They work great so far & I bought the pro-whitening brush head so it's supposed to make a difference in 7 days :-)

That's all I got for today.
Happy Shopping!

Alma Mater Pumpkin Carving

Luckily, both K and I graduated from the same college so it was easy deciding how we should carve the pumpkin this year. Our Alma mater is University of Central Florida (UCF) so we decided to represent pumpkin style.

This design required a drill so I let K do most of the work and we love how it came out ;-)

Oh and K created his own little meme to share on Facebook.

Funny, funny! (Although it was very true)

Now I gotta go to Spirit Halloween tonight to look for cheap Halloween Masks or Wigs for us to give out candy tomorrow. Amazon Halloween Shop also has great deals but it's a little to late to do online shopping now. 

Have a Happy Halloween tomorrow!

Taste of Tuesday: Chicken Stir-Fry

Sorry, another Asian recipe from me. A couple weeks ago it was Sweet n Sour chicken but this is really what goes on in my house and that wok I got from our wedding gets good use!

I cook stir-frys almost every week because it's easy, healthy and inexpensive to make. I kind of just made up this recipe and it can be adjusted to your liking.You can use any meat - chicken, shrimp, beef - along with any combination of frozen or fresh veggies so it's very flexible.

You will also need some oil or olive oil and soy sauce (I use low-sodium).

I used frozen stir-fry veggies this week because it's quicker than chopping up a ton of stuff.

Recommended meat:

Chicken breast cut into chunks

Recommended veggies:

Broccoli

Carrots

Zucchini

Mushrooms

Onion 

Green Pepper

Cook chicken with a little olive oil in a wok or large non-stick pot until no longer pink.  

Add in veggies, cover the pot and cook for about 10 minutes (with frozen veggies). More for fresh veggies.

I also happened to have a can of water chestnuts so I threw those in.

Season to taste with black pepper, all purpose seasonings and coat with soy sauce. Cover the pot and let everything finishing cooking.

Joining Jessica and Ashley for Taste of Tuesday.

 

What quick and healthy meals do you cook for dinner?

Weekend Fun & Celebrations

Monday we meet again, unwillingly, after another fun weekend for the books!

Friday: We did date night and went downtown for sushi and to check out some of the houses decorated for Halloween. After dinner we met up with some friends for a couple beers. Our friend showed up dressed as a PBR beer (his favorite) and won 2nd place.

Saturday: I went to the gym and did my usual errands before going to an engagement party. Champagne and Fireball were given to the soon-to-be bride and groom. We had a fun night celebrating with friends.

Sunday: Brunch plans with a friend got cancelled so K and I decided to go for brunch to my favorite little spot downtown for chicken and waffles. 

Joining Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

How was your weekend?

Happy Fall Friday!

Thankfully this week flew by for me and the weekend is here so that I'm grateful for. 

After saying goodbye to my parents on Monday (who had been here visiting for 2 weeks), I started some fun new projects to occupy my brain & I'm pretty stoked about both:

#1 My long overdue blog redesign is underway and will be here next month!

#2 K and I booked our trip to Savannah, GA for my 30th bday in December :-)

So other than that, here's what I've been doing...

~ K brought home this pretty pumpkin to surprise me so I guess we'll be doing some pumpkin carving action this weekend.

~ Black nails with a little sparkle for some Halloween spirit.

~ More bathroom redecorating going on in the B household...Picked up this pretty shell wall art from Marshalls for the master bathroom. My love for the beach has now become apparent in all 3 bathrooms. yikes!

~ Snagged this jumbo bottle of wine for $7.99 from Publix sooo my Thursday night was spent hanging out with that glass and the TV. No worries in the world.

~ Yesterday was the first "sweater" day in FL, so I dusted off my comfy granny slippers from VS last night and lounged around with my glass of wine.

Cheers to the weekend!

Joining Darci and Lauren for Five on Friday.

Hope you had a great week too!

Got any pumpkin carving tips for me?

Neutral Fashion Trends For Fall

My closet used to be 95% black, white and denim so this summer I stepped out the box and bought a bunch of bright colors - pink, mint, etc. 

I also neutral and beige clothing so I put together a little collage of some neutral fall trends that I'm loving this year.

Express Watches · Express Leather Jackets · MICHAEL Michael Kors Clutches

Most of the items are from Express which is more in my shopping price range but a girl can dream :-) I also love Express because there's always a coupon out there to help you save money. Promo code 1986 is valid now until Sun Oct 27 to get:

$15 off your $30 purchase, $30 off your $75 purchase or $60 off your $150 at Express.com with promo code 1986

What are you loving for Fall and where do you shop?