Detox Tea

So I am trying to make more healthy life choices and something I have trouble with is drinking enough water. I found  this detox tea that not only helps with my bloat but it seems to make me thirsty which helps me drink more water and it doesn't taste bad!! I'm only on day 3 of the 7 day detox but so far its great!!

Ingredients:
1 dandelion tea bag (found mine in the organic section)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon pure cranberry juice (no added sugar, organic)
60 oz water

Steep the bag in hot water for 20 minutes and then mix the remaining ingredients. Drink this once a day every day along with your water intake. It will help curve your appetite and de-bloat  you! Hope it works for you like it has been working for me!!

Fun Bridal Shower Game!

So we have all been to the dreadful bridal shower where they serve chips, soda, and a game that bores you to tears. I went to my friend Shannon's baby shower recently and they played this really cute game that I had to steal for the bridal shower I was planning.

I went to the dollar store and got 12 brown bags and some tissue paper. I printed out the letters BRIDAL SHOWER and filled each bag with something that begins with that letter that the bride to bring on her honeymoon! Some letters were harder than others and we had to stretch but here is what we used!!

B - Brush
R- Razors
I- Ibuprofen
D- Drivers License
A-Aloe Vera
L- Lingerie

S- Sunscreen
H- Hair tie
O- Oil (massage oil)
W- Waterproof mascara
E- Earrings
R- Rum (she was going to St. Luca!)

There are tons of other things you could maybe do for the letters. Here a few girls guessed
B-Blush, Bra, Bathing suit
D- Deodorant
E- Eye cream, Earplugs
H- Hat, Head band
O- OFF! Bug spray


You can also spell out different words like the Bride to be name or last name or Wedding. You can also change it up and do different things you'll find at a wedding. You can be as creative as you want!

Mimosa Bar!

For Sarah's Bridal shower, her sister had the idea of doing a Mimosa bar and it was a huge hit! I was pleasantly surprised how tasty everything was!

The jars to hold the juice were from the dollar store and she bought chalk board tags which we uses a white marker to write on with (chalk is so hard to write with) We did a grapefruit juice, orange juice, strawberry juice, and raspberry lemonade juice. We kept it simple on the fruit using strawberries, black and raspberries, oranges, and pineapples. Lemons would have been yummy too! The guest loves them! 

We served them in these cute mason jars with fun straws. The Raspberry lemonade was the crowd favorite! 

I might just start making them for me on the weekends! So yummy!

Light Lemon Blueberry Cake

I got this recipe from my cooking light pampered chef book and it is amazing! It is hard to believe it is lower in calories and in carbs! I also made a few adjustments to make it even healthier!

Ingredients:

Cake and Filling:

1 can blueberry pie filling

1 package lemon cake mix

3 egg whites

1 cup water

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

Pudding:

1 lemon

1 cup boiling water

1 package lemon gelatin

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees F. Lightly spray and 9x13 baking dish.

Spread the blueberry pie filling out in the prepared pan.

In a separate bowl mix the cake mix, egg whites, water, and apple sauce. Stir until well blended and pour evenly on top of blueberry filling.

Four the pudding, boil 1 cup of water (I just place mine in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute) Pour the gelatin in until its dissolved. Add 2-3 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Pour the gelatin mixture evenly over  the cake layer.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let stand for 10 minutes. Some times I will sprinkle some powdered sugar on top but it is not necessary. It is quite delicious. You can serve it with fat free cool whip too! I personally like the best after its been placed the refrigerator! It is excellent cold! Enjoy!

Margaronas

I make this drink anytime I have a party or a gathering and its a huge hit! Everyone from men, women, people who like to drink, and people who drink sparingly all love this! It is a strong drink but the citrus covers it up so well you cant tell!!

For this Big Jar I did 4 times the recipe but depending on how many guest you have you can always double or in my case use 4 times the amount! Here is the recipe for a small pitcher!

Ingredients:

1 can of limeade (In the frozen juice section)

3 cans of water (use the limeade can)

9 oz of tequila

6 oz of triple sec

1 bottle of Corona

Directions:
Mix together and enjoy!

For the big jug I kind of estimate and taste test. I usually use silver tequila and use about 2-2.5 cups of that. 1.5 cups of triple sec (I use the cheapest brand usually) 4 cans of limeade with their respected amounts of water and I get the mini coronas and use 5-6 of them (It depends on the crowd and the event how much booze I use) It is so  easy and you can make the night before so it is already ready the day of! You can also cut up lemons and limes for a more festive look!

Sarah's Bridal Shower

After a month of planning the Bridal shower for the beautiful bride to be finally arrived! Me and the Jessicas had so much fun planning it and it turned out so cute! I mean look at all this food!

We did the Homemade Corn Salsa, Spinach Dip, Loris famous cheese ball, veggies, Bacon Jalapeno Eggs , BBQ Pigs in a blanket, brownies, cupcakes, crock pot meatballs,  and made our own cheese tray! We had about 11 guest and the food was the perfect amount. You don't want to do too much or you will break the bank and no one will eat it all. You also don't want to do too little, it will make the presentation look bare and guest will not want to eat if no one else is eating. I also like to use matching colors or colors that complement each other for dishes. It make the food more visually appealing and use different heights to present the food! It will make you look like you have more than you have! And look at these cupcakes Kristi made!! They were hands down the best part of the food so delicious!

Me and the Baker!

We also had some yummy drinks! I have never had a Mimosa bar before and It turned out so cute and was a huge success! 

And can't forget the Margaronas! Always a Party favorite!

For games we did some of the typical "How well do you know the bride" and "Bride or Groom" which were really fun! We also played a game that I adapted from a baby shower.

The bags all spelled out "Bridal Shower" and in each bag there was an item the bride would have to bring with her to their honey moon! Look how we filled the bags here!

Can't forget the gifts either! Whats the fun of playing the games with out a prize!! Every thing in the baskets were $1 and the baskets them selves were 50 cents each!

jessica made the favors that were just to die for they were so cute. They were little mason jars filled with pop corn and they said "Thanks for popping bye!" A cute inexpensive way to end the evening!

She even stamped cute little love birds on the tags!

We also bout some flowers from the dollar store and sale flowers from Michaels and flower bombed the party! They are a cheap and easy way to add some festive decor and can be reused! I used these for Kristis baby shower! 

Our bride had so much fun and so did our guest! Hopefully some of these little hacks can help you plan a great bridal shower as well!!

Yummy Turkey Meatloaf

Now meatloaf can be a questionable dinner choice. I grew up hating meat loaf. I'm not sure if it was the mystery meat in it or if I was just freaked out by a log of meat. It certainly was not my first choice for a meal.  A few years ago my fiance asked me to make a meatloaf. Lets just say I was sweating bullets. How can I make a meal for someone when I loath the final product? I had recently bought a "Cooking Light" magazine which had a healthy turkey meatloaf recipe in it (originally from Good Housekeeping). Well I figured, I will try to be healthy, I will eat just about anything that can help me loose weight and what do you know I LOVED IT! It was the perfect zest and heartiness. It was filling, delicious and healthy!

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
2 medium celery stalks, finely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic (or 1 chopped garlic clove)
2 lb lean ground turkey
1/4 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs (from 1 1/2 slices of bread)
1/3 cup skim milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
2 egg whites
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium non stick skillet, cook the oil on medium heat and add the chopped onions and celery. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally.
Add the garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute. Transfer the veggies to a bowl to cool slightly.
In the bowl the the cooked vegetables, add the bread crumbs, ground turkey, milk, egg whites, 1/4 cup ketchup, Worcestershire sauce (I like to add an extra tablespoon for some extra flavor), salt, pepper. (I also recently started adding Italian seasoning to the mix).
Mix all ingredients with hands until well combined but not over mixed. Transfer the loaf to a baking sheet and form into the shape of a log. In a small bowl mix the remaining ketchup and Dijon mustard. Spread the ketchup mix over the loaf.
Bake the loaf for 55-60 minutes or until an internal thermometer reaches 160 degrees F. Let loaf sit 10 minutes before serving! Enjoy!