Baked Ravioli

As you can see by all the recipes on this website, we like pasta at our house lol.  This one is a great weeknight meal that can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until ready to cook.

I have school on Mondays and Wednesday nights, so I will usually assemble this the night before and stick it in the fridge so that Mr H can just throw it in the oven 45 minutes before I get home and it’s ready to go.

What you need:

Bag of frozen cheese ravioli

Large jar of pasta sauce

Provolone cheese slices

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

1 pound Hamburger

Diced onion (as little or as much as you like)

What you do:

Cook your hamburger and onion together and drain grease.  Pour about a half cup of sauce in the bottom of a baking dish (9x9 is fine, you just have to be sure to use a cookie sheet underneath the baking dish when cooking in the oven because the sauce will boil over).  Then put a layer of ravioli down and cover with provolone cheese slices.  Then layer in this order: hamburger, sauce, ravioli.  When you are finished, use any remaining sauce  and cover with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Spray the underside of a piece of tin foil and cover the dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and then uncover and bake for 10 additional minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

Easy Peasy Spaghetti Sauce That Rocks!

This sauce only has 3 ingredients in it.  That’s right, ONLY 3!  When I tell you that it is SO GOOD though!  Mmmmmm. 

You will need:

One large yellow onion

2 28oz cans of diced or whole tomatoes

10 tablespoons of butter

Garlic or garlic powder

That’s it!!!  Don’t underestimate though.  I did.  I thought, there are not enough ingredients in this sauce for it to be good.  It will surprise you though.

What you do:

Pour your tomatoes, butter and garlic in a pot.  Peel and cut your onion in half.  Place the onion in the pot with the cut side down.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for 45 minutes stirring frequently.  When you are stirring, crush your tomatoes with your spoon or with a potato masher. 

If you wish to add meat to this sauce, you need to cook it separately and then add it to the sauce when the sauce is done.  So delicious! 

The Difference Between Big Mistakes and Blessings Disguised as Mistakes (BDMs)

I bought an iPhone last year for my upgrade and did not purchase the AppleCare (big mistake #1).  I did not purchase an Otterbox or a waterproof case for it (big mistake #2).  I went to the beach for Labor Day and took it down to the pool with me (big mistake #3) and left it in my bag with my cold water bottle that was sweating all over the place (big mistake #4).  My iPhone drowned.  I tried to turn it on while it was still wet (big mistake #5).  It fried.  When it finally dried out, the screen would not work.  The phone itself appeared to be working fine because it was ringing when people called me and I could hear text messages coming through, but the screen no longer functioned.  So I went home and on a whim decided to try and send it to Apple to see if they would fix it.  I knew that they probably wouldn’t because it was water damage, but I was desperate.  So I sent it to them anyway.  They emailed me a few days later that they were returning the phone unrepaired because they don’t cover water damage under warranty yada yada.  So here’s where things start to get a little crazy.

I came home from work and there was a little sticky note on my door from Fedex that they tried to deliver and no one was home to sign, so they will be back tomorrow for a final attempt.  Stupid me didn’t think about signing the sticky note and leaving it on the door for them or leaving them a note to tell them to take it next door to my inlaws (BDM #1).  So the next day, Fedex comes back and obviously I still work at 10am on a weekday so I was again not there to sign.  So they left a note that said they were sending it to their depot in Greensboro and I would need to pick it up there.  I didn’t get around to driving to Greensboro until about 10 days later (BDM #2).  I figured what was the hurry anyway, the phone didn’t work so why did I need to hurry up and go get it?  Plus it’s hard to plan that drive when you have so much going on (school, work, toddler, life, etc).  So I made the 45 minute drive to the Fedex depot only to be told when I got there that they had shipped it back to Apple because they only hold returned packages there for 5 days and then they return to the sender (not really a BDM, but it still sucked).  I was LIVID.  No one bothered to put any information about that little 5 day rule anywhere on that paper that was stuck to my door, so how was I supposed to know??

So then I go home and I call Apple the next day and tell them what I’ve been told and I ask them to please reship the phone to me but to a different address where someone will be home during the day.  The lady on the phone says that’s fine and puts a note in the computer for them to do so.  Fast forward to one week later and I still do not have the phone.  So I call Apple back.  I speak to a very nice gentleman on the phone who informs me that according to their notes they are unable to find my phone (BDM on THEIR part).  At this point I’m like, clearly it is not meant for this phone to make it back to my hands.  So I ask him what I need to do at this point and he says, “Well Mrs Hopkins, if they are unable to find your phone they will just send you a replacement.”  Say WHATTTT??

Moral of the story……EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!  And I have some amazing luck haha.  I just hope that I don’t run into some random person and transfer all of it to them like Lindsey Lohan in that movie “Just My Luck.”  That would totally suck.  Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket today haha.  Oh well, yay for getting an iPhone again!!

A Pretty Long Rambling Update - Sort Of

Alright ladies and gentlemen….I have officially joined the gym again and plan on getting some more pounds off this big butt of mine.  I will start going on Monday and I can hardly wait.  I have actually missed going to the gym.  I used to go about 4 times a week believe it or not.  Then I got pregnant and gave up.  Note to self (and every other woman who plans on ever getting pregnant) DON’T DO THAT!  I didn’t feel good the first month of my pregnancy and so I stopped going.  I had all intentions of going back, but just never did.  What I should have done was put on my big girl panties and sucked it up.  I should have went and worked out ANYWAY.  It probably would have made me feel better in all actuality.  Too late though.  So now I have to start over.  It will be more challenging now though because of that lovely bundle of joy turned terror toddler.  I’ll have to schedule my workouts around picking up him from daycare, going to class, working, being a domestic diva, blah blah blah.  So this will be challenging, but it’s gonna happen dangit.  When school starts, my work schedule will change and I will be getting off at 4 every day.  So that will be easier because Caden doesn’t have to get picked up from daycare until 530pm.  I will be able to swing by the gym when I leave work and then go get him.  Yay!  But for the next few weeks, I’m working until 530pm and so it’s going to be difficult.  Oh well, I’ll figure something out!  I’m just excited about getting back in there.  Woohoo! 

Aside from that, I’m also doing a smoothie diet….sort of.  I’ve been drinking smoothies for breakfast and then I’ll have one of three things for lunch: another smoothie, a salad, or a protein bar.  I have been doing it for one week and have lost 2 pounds so far.  Yay!  We have normal food for dinner of course.  Mr H says he ain’t gonna eat none of that rabbit food that I eat.  Haha.  He’s a southern boy through and through.  Raised on meat and potatoes.  It’s hard breaking that habit.  I have to hand it to myself though, I have gotten him to eat a lot more than he used to eat when I met him, good grief.  That boy wouldn’t even touch a salad.  Had never had salad with ranch dressing!  That’s un-American!  Now he will tear up a salad with ranch dressing!  Granted the only vegetables he likes in the salad are lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes it’s better than nothing.  Until he piles on the mountains of cheese and ham.  Yuck. 

Caden is proving to be a hard one to please in the food department too.  His diet these days consists of mac  and cheese, pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and fruit snacks.  That boy is going to turn into a dang bag of fruit snacks I swear.  He calls them fwuit nacks.  It’s so cute.  But he inhales them and then comes back asking for more….and more….and more.  Since he doesn’t snack a lot I’ll usually let him have two packs but then I have to lie and tell him he ate them all so he’ll stop asking. 

And since we’re talking about Caden, let’s talk about his temper tantrums.  Holy moly that kid can throw a fit.  If there was a contest that I could enter him into for longest and most dramatic tantrums ever, he would take all the awards and send everyone else packing.  Kid is cray.  The other day….he got mad because he wanted to ride up and down the driveway in his Paw’s truck.  Paw said no, not today and then they came inside the house.  He was already ticked off about that, then he comes inside screaming for me to turn on the tv.  I was like, ummm you can stop screaming and crying and ask me nicely and I will turn it on.  That did it.  It was over.  It was like his legs turned to jello.  He literally just falls to the floor and starts rolling around screaming and crying at the top of his lungs.  We usually just let him throw his little fits and ignore him and eventually he will stop.  Recently we started sending him to his room to have his fits and told him he could come out when he gets done.  But this night, none of that was happening.  He screamed NONSTOP for over 30 minutes.  Kicking and screaming and rolling around and acting like he didn’t have no dang sense.  Then, like a switch, he gets up and asks for a fwuit nack and says please.  So I gave it to him.  Then he said “eb pwease” (cuz he can’t say TV, he calls it EB haha).  So I turned on the tv and put it on Megamind.  Don’t even get me started on that movie.  Between that and Cars, I never see anything else when he’s in the house.

Anyway, my point is…the terrible twos freaking SUCK.  I don’t wanna wish our lives away and make him grow up too fast, cuz he is already doing that on his own, but come onnnnnn…..can we get the terrible part over with?  And just have the twos?  Why does it have to be terrible?  Why can’t it be the terrific twos?  Huh?  What the heck??  Sometimes I think, “I’d like to have another baby.”  Then Caden throws a fit and I’m like, “#&%@ NO.”  Maybe next year.  We’ll see.

July Birchbox

It finally came!!  I got my first Birchbox delivery today and I was soooo excited to open it and see what kind of goodies I had gotten.  It was no disappointment either, let me tell you!  They packed some good stuff in there and I can't wait to try it all out!  Here's what I got!

Bronzer by Ada Cosmetics

The color I received was "Peach."  I tried a little on the back of my hand just to see what it was like and it was quite nice actually.  Granted your hand and your face are two totally different things, but still.  It is a loose powder, like the Bare Minerals line that most people are familiar with, and it leaves a nice shimmery glow on your skin.  So you look sunkissed without the UV rays!

Luxe Salt Scrub in Lemon Leaf by dirt.

This stuff smells so good! It is a combination of seasalts, grapeseed oil and avocado oils with a sprinkling of lemon leaf and raspberry seeds mixed in.  The company is also organic so there are no mineral oils, parabens or dyes in any of their products.  I can't wait to use this stuff because I'm positive that my skin will feel like silk afterwards.

Eau Flirt perfume sample by Harvey Prince

If you know me, you know that I LOVE perfumes, body sprays and lotions. My vanity is covered with all kinds of perfumes and the drawers are stuffed to the brim with lotions and sprays.  It is quite ridiculous lol.  I could probably never buy another bottle of the stuff and still smell good until I was 105.  So that said, I was excited to see a perfume sample in my box.  It was actually the first thing that I picked up.  It has a very feminine smell to it, sort of a floral undertone.  I generally don't go for the floral scents, but this one is very nice.  According to the company, the perfume contains pumpkin and lavender along with a little undertone of freesia, jasmine, nutmeg and cinnamon.  I know (because I would have thought the same thing if I would have read this description prior to smelling the perfume) that this sounds odd and seems like it wouldn't work together, but I'm telling you it does!  If you run across it in the perfume section at the department store, please smell it!  Aside from that, the most interesting thing that I read is that this perfume holds true to it's name.  Eau Flirt is specifically formulated to attract a man's attention and "heat things up."  Apparently, studies have shown pumpkin and lavender to spur passionate reactions in men.  We'll see about that when hubby gets home *wink wink*!

Stainiac lip and cheek stain by theBalm cosmetics

Another fabulous item that I can't wait to try out.  I hate lipsticks.  I NEVER wear lipstick.  I will wear the heck out of some chapstick though lol.  My lips almost never have any color on them though because I refuse to wear lipstick.  I do wear lip stain though.  I have one other lip stain already in a lighter pink shade, but I'm excited to wear the red.  I think it will make or a nice shade for date night with the hubby out on the town :)  The cool thing about this lip stain is that it's a gel.  The other stains I have seen have been liquid and you brush them on with sort of a nail polish like applicator brush.  This is more like a lip gloss wand. 

Sample size Larabar

It's nice that they threw a little something in the box related to health and nutrition.  Not only do women like to look pretty and feel pretty on the outside, but we should feel the same on the inside.  What better way to do that then by making sure what we feed ourselves is good for us. 

The cutest set of Earbuds EVER

Ok, this was TOTALLY unexpected.   These Earbuds are super cute with their neon colors.  Pink and blue are my favorites together.  It reminds me of cotton candy :)  How the heck did Birchbox know that I needed an extra set of these bad boys??  Major score!

All in all, this box definitely receives my stamp of approval and I am now looking forward to next months box with great anticipation!! 

Birchbox and Bluum Box!

I’m super excited because I just got invited to sign up for the Birchbox AND the Bluum Box!  My day has been officially made!  If you don’t know what these are, let me school you a little bit!  Then you’ll know why I’m so excited!

Birchbox is a company that will send you a monthly box of beauty samples.  These can range from skincare to makeup and even health and nutritional items.  You will get samples of things from companies like Philosophy (I LOVE them), Redken, Befine, Spackle, Bare Minerals,  Benefit, Boscia (a new favorite of mine), Dropps (a laundry detergent), Juicy Couture, Sweet Riot (organic chocolate), Smashbox, and sooo many more!!

I’m excited about being able to try these things out and find out about new products without having to go to a store and look around.  It’s like I have a personal shopper haha.  I can’t wait to get my first box!  I’ll be sure to share with you when it comes!

If you’re interested in learning more about it, their website is www.birchbox.com.

Here is a picture of what a Birchbox might contain!

Bluum is a company exactly like Birchbox, only their boxes contain baby and toddler related items.  So this one is for Caden!  They also throw in some things for mommies too.  I looked on the website and this month’s box contains some cool stuff!  There was a tube of lip balm by BabyGanics, who I am a fan of.  I have used their cleaner from Walmart.  There was a Babybug magazine, a Luna bar, a sample of Rockin Green Laundry detergent, a sample of Nassim Naturals Soothing Balm for baby’s skin, and a sample of Pangea Organics facial toner.  I can’t wait to see what comes for me and Caden in our box! 

If you want to check out Bluum, their website is www.bluum.com.

Here is a picture of what a Bluum Box might contain!

The best thing about both of these companies is that you can cancel your membership at any time with no penalty.  It’s a month to month subscription (unless you opt for the yearly subscription).  So if I don’t like it, I can just cancel it.  No big deal!  The boxes come at the same time every month, similar to a magazine subscription….only much better!

I will be sure to update you guys as soon as one of these treasure boxes makes it to my house!