Taste of Tuesday: Thanksgiving Corn Casserole

Hi everyone!

Another successful recipe cooked this weekend for the "friends-giving" dinner I went to on Saturday night.

I got this delicious recipe for Cheesy Corn Casserole from here thanks to Denise for sharing!

Ingredients:
1 (11 oz) can whole kernel corn
1 (11 oz) can cream style corn
1 (8oz) sour cream
1 egg
1 pack dry corn bread/muffin mix
1/2 onion
1 cup grated cheese

Use Pam or butter to grease the 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl leaving behind 1/4 cup cheese for the topping.

Cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and top with remainder of cheese.

Bake for another 25 minutes until inside is cooked and cheese becomes golden brown.

Enjoy!

Joining Ashley and Jessica for Taste of Tuesday.

Friends-Giving Weekend

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I had a much-needed relaxing Friday. K and I went for dinner & drinks at Outback and then rented a movie from Redbox.

Saturday was hectic ~ gym, grocery, Christmas shopping & baking for our "friends-giving" dinner.

 

On Sunday, I put up our Christmas tree and spent the day at home "relaxing" aka laundry, cleaning, cooking and preparing for work on Monday

Joining Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

How was your weekend?

Friday: Oh So Fabulous!

It may seem repetitive being this ecstatic every time Friday finally rolls around but I think we all agree that we live for the weekend so who cares! I'm happy and here's what I'm loving about this past week:

#1: Hairdressers = Magicians:

How is that 2 days after my appointment my hair still looks fabulous (exhibit A) but when I wash and style it myself (exhibit B) it looks flat & boring? Hairdressers have magic fingers and I can never recreate it.

#2: Fall Flowers

K came home with these beauties. Not really sure why but I love sunflowers and the pretty fall colors in this bouquet. 

 #3: Turquoise Nails

Okay, I know it's Fall and I should be going with red and orange nails but this gel nail color has become my favorite to get at the salon.

#4: Homemade Martinis

I decided it was about time to finish up the olive juice and martini stuff I had in the fridge so last night I made my favorite cocktail - a dirty martini with blue cheese olives - and it was fabulous.

#5: My Beauty Bag Giveaway

If you haven't entered already, go enter now to win all of these goodies. It ends next Friday and I'm excited to find out who the winner will be.

Also, I'm excited to be guest posting today over at Kate @ Green Fashionista's blog today while she's off to the Bahamas. Go check out her blog and read my two sense on why cruising to the Bahamas is so much fun!

Joining Lauren and Darcie today for Friday Fives.

Have a great weekend!

What to Cook For Thanksgiving?

I have 3 different Thanksgiving lunches/dinners this year - one this weekend with friends, a potluck at work next week, and then actual Thanksgiving day with family - and really don't know what to bring to the table. 

Of course, this is where Pinterest becomes my creative thinking cap and I've found some new recipes to consider.

Starters:

Sweet Potato Croquettes with Pumpkin Seed Chipotle Cream
via this site

Garlicky Butternut Squash & Pumpkin Soup
via this site

Side Dishes:

Chipotle Smashed Potaotoes
via this site

Cornbread Casserole
via this site
I've actually cooked a different version of this casserole for our family Thanksgiving 2 or 3 years in a row but this recipe looks so much better so I will probably experiment with this one this year.

Butternut Squash & Apples
via this site

Bacon Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Honey Mustard
via this site

Drinks:
Spiced Apple Cider Sangria
via this site

Do you have any fun thanksgiving recipes to share?

Almost Friday!

Health Challenge Complete & Nutrition Tips

Back in May, my company opened up a 6-month health challenge that we could opt to participate in along with your spouse. When I heard that the prize for successfully completing the challenge and meeting your target weight was a night at the Gaylord Palms resort in Orlando, I definitely wanted to be in.

Now, I'm naturally a "smaller boned" person so I didn't have a huge amount of weight to lose but you can set your own goal so mine was to tone up by replacing some extra fat with muscle and K's goal was to lose 15-20 pounds.

To complete the challenge you had to attend the gym at least 10 times/month for 6 mths and do weekly check-ins with a Nutritionist, which they paid for both the gym membership and the nutrition counseling so what did I have to lose?

The end of October marked the 6 months and K & I both hit our goal so last weekend was our trip to the Gaylord Palms resort.

I can't share the complete diet plan that you would pay to get from a Nutritionist but I thought I'd share some huge tips that have helped K and I change our life/diet around and really keep the weight off:

Diet Tips:

~ Limit sugar intake (check the back of labels and opt for salad dressings with less than 3g sugar)

~ Milk is liquid sugar

~ Coffee drinkers, try to use non-dairy creamer

~ Green vegetables have less sugar so opt for these when you can (broccoli, zucchini,etc.)

~ Packaged/processed foods such as instant rice and pasta meals = no bueno

~ Workout out as much as you can, even a quick 15-20 mins of cardio is better than nothing

~ Some good, low cal snacks are protein shakes, cottage cheese, string cheese, almonds, yoghurt.

~ No carbs after lunch or at least none at dinner.

Need some ideas for low carb dinners?

~ Baked parmesan-crusted pork chops with fresh veggies

~ Chicken stirfry

~ Baked tilapia topped with shrimp & asparagus

~ Chicken & mixed veggie kabobs

~ Steak & shrimp with mashed cauliflower and broccoli

~ BBQ jerk pork chops with vegetable medley (zucchini, carrots & onion)

I'd be happy to share any of these recipes with anyone interested. 

Joining Jenn for What I Ate Wednesday.

Happy hump day everyone!

Here's the link to my Beauty Bag Giveaway going on now ;-)

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!