About Me

I am a typical college girl, I have an amazing love for ORANGE, COWBOYS and my car Cuppie. I do reviews on anything from children, pets, home items all the way to food and make up.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Another Reason To LOVE Mary Kay


I was recently given the Mary Kay oil-free eye makeup remover to test out, and I was really excited because eye makeup remover is something that I use everyday.  No matter how little makeup I wear I am sure to always have on some sort of eye makeup.  I use a primer, which does a great job of keeping my eye shadow on all day, but it makes it hard to get it off at night.  By this I mean, I wash my face in the shower and come out with the makeup on my eyelids still looking almost perfect, with the exception of the liner and mascara that has smeared and given me raccoon eyes.  The remover I had been using worked pretty well, but it required that I used a lot of it and still didn’t always come off clean the first time.  



When my sister asked me to do this review I was like, “Why not?”  I figured that if worst came to worst I would at least get some free eye makeup remover from it.  Well I sure am glad that I did because it is the best eye makeup remover I have ever used!  I squirted a little bit on a cotton pad and swiped it across my eyelid and like magic the makeup was gone.   There was no rubbing or having to go back 2 or 3 times to get everything off.  Everything came off clean the first time.  It also is oil-free, so my face isn’t all greasy after I use it. 

 The $15 price tag is a little steep for me, but I think it makes up for it with how well it works.  Also, the fact that a little bit goes a long way means that my bottle will last longer, so I won’t be buying it as often.  I highly recommend that anyone who wears a lot of eye makeup give it a shot.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how well it works.

Do you want to win some Mary Kay? Well then head on over HERE. Go to the end of that post and find the instructions on how to enter! Heather is AMAZING and I thank her once again for being an AMAZING sponsor! Remember, you can check her store out at Mary Kay with Heather.

This review was written and tested by a guest blogger. My sister, Dani, she wears make up more so then I do, so that is why she was picked for this review. 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Scholarships..Planning my Trip and Homework

Hello everyone! Just wanted to touch base with everyone and tell them that I hope you are having an AMAZING start to the week. My past week has been crazy!

I have been so busy with scholarships, trying to plan how much a month I need while I am gone, reading 5 chapters and doing two different types of math homework. Let me just say, I have forgotten how much it took to apply to a scholarship, from filling out 4+ pages to writing 2 different essays for one scholarship. It seems crazy that they would even have time to read so much, but none the less, I will write them all and make them wonderful because I need these scholarships!

Has anyone ever tried to plan your 10-11 month trip in advance? Let me just tell you, it is not easy! Trying to figure out their cost of groceries, thank goodness a supermarket chain over there has a website with current prices for everything I could ever need. Their cell phone plans, well let me just say their T-Mobile, is not at all like ours. They have way better plans, kinda cant wait to get my phone there since they are better! Bus, train and underground tickets, well those are pretty easy considering this is not my first trip over there, so I understand those. But let me just say, their prices are so much better then being here and paying so much for gas, I am excited to go back to an amazing transportation system.

Homework..oh homework. Most of you who follow the blog know that now both Cole and I are in school. Which means on weekends, we have double the homework time, which in turn means less time for him and I to spend together before I leave. This weekend was his first week back at school in a semester and let me say his has got to have the WORST college algebra teacher. The book she picked doesnt match her online math homework and test site chapters. Her lack of notes in class is crazy! All she does is takes the problems from the book, that the book works out then re does them on the board. I mean honestly, what kind of teaching is that? It took Cole, my sister, her boyfriend and I over 3 hours to complete 36 problems online. None of us remember doing those type of problems in our college algebra class. So I have now sent Cole to a tutor, he is past my help, I have no idea what his book was talking about! Now my own homework, well lets just say I hate to read and I consistantly have about 4-6 chapters a week to read. Plus I have a few hand written homeworks and a couple quizzes that I have to prep for.

This weekend, I was hoping Cole and I could have a night to relax and just go see a movie with a groupon that I have, but sadly that did not happen. I will be trying to make that plan happen again this week, but who knows if it will.

Below, I have put a recipe that I will be trying before I leave for my trip. It is a traditional grab on the go biscuit/croissant type item from Scotland.

Ingredients For Aberdeen Butteries:



250g butter
125g lard
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
500g flour
2 teaspoons of dried yeast
450ml warm water
Pinch of salt


Aberdeen Butteries


Baking Directions For Aberdeen Butteries:



1. Make a paste from the yeast, sugar and a wee bit of the warm water and set aside.


2. Mix the flour and the salt together. Once the yeast has bubbled up add this and mix well to a dough and leave to rise.

3. Cream the butter and lard and divide into three portions.

4. Once the dough has doubled in size give it a good knead then roll into a rectangle about 1cm thick.

5. Then spread one portion of the butter mixture over two thirds of the dough.

6. Fold the remining third of the dough over onto the butter mixture and fold the other bit over - giving three layers. Roll this back to the original size.

7. Allow to cool for 40 minutes.

8. Repeat stages 5-7 twice more.

9. Cut the dough into 16 pieces and shape each to a rough circle and place on baking trays.

10. Set aside to rise for about 45 minutes then bake at 200c for 15 minutes.


Photo Butteries


Other Butteries recipes can be found in the book A Cook's Tour of Scotland by Sue Lawrence and in The National Trust for Scotland book The Scottish Kitchen by Christopher Trotter.
 
I found the recipe here http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/butteries.htm. They have a ton of info on food in Scotland that i will be reading over before my trip.

Hope everyone has a great day. Its time for me to get ready for class!

Friday, January 20, 2012

No, I do not wear MOM JEANS!

Hi everyone! This is Ashley, here. So, Nicole has been wanting me to blog about being a stay-at-home mom for quite some time now and in a way I guess I was avoiding it. I didn't realize I was but I think I was. Why, I have no idea but after watching the movie, Courageous, I am facing it full-force. Have you seen Courageous? If not, you absolutely must see it!

I was called to be a teacher. Yes, I said called. Just like preachers are called to preach, I was called to teach. Before my calling, I so desperately wanted to be a pediatrician. In fact,
from the age of 8, I knew that I wanted to work with children one day. In the spring of my sophomore year of college, I was called to teach. So, I changed my major from Biology to Elementary Education. After I made that change, a peace came over me like I had never before experienced.

I loved all things elementary ed in college. In 2004, I started in the profession as a kindergarten assistant. I looped with that class and was theirfirst grade assistant. Man, I loved that group of kids! The following year, I was hired to teach first grade. Man, I loved that group, too! There'sjust something about your very first class that you call your own. The next year, I moved up to second grade and I stayed in second grade from 2006-2010. Yes, I loved my second graders, too! :)

While I was teaching, my husband and I started a family. Our son was born in 2007. I recorded when he first rolled over, when he started to crawl, when he spoke his first words, and when he began walking. I didn't miss those moments because they all occurred during the summer months. At least if I did miss them, he did them again for me when I got home from school and I never noticed.

A few years later, I was expecting again-a girl. My husband asked me while I was pregnant in April 2010 to come home. I told him I just could not come home.I loved my job. I never imagined in a million years not working. I'm a very independent person. As I got further along in the pregnancy, I started resenting work. Long hours, paperwork brought home everyday, meetings,....the list goes on.  All I wanted was for our daughter to be born and to be born before her September due date. And boy she was!

She came 2 weeks early in August. My husband begged me to not go back after my maternity leave. I told him that I had to go back. My students were depending on me. So, after 8 weeks home, I went back. I promised myself I would try it see how it went. Well, my daughter wasn't sleeping through the night and by Thanksgiving, she still wasn't. That meant that I was waking up throughout the night, getting up at 5 to get ready, getting both my children up and dressed, dropping them off at daycare, and clocking in by 7am. I was
exhausted before the day began. At the end of each school day, I had meetings. When I got home, I had papers to grade. I was tired. I didn't feel like cooking for my family or doing chores. I didn't have time for them or even the energy for them. I was running on thin air. I knew that something had to give. I was miserable. Plus, the cost of daycare was half my check. I basically was working to pay someone to keep my children and that didn't make sense at all. I always said when my job was no longer fun, then it was time to
leave. So, I spoke to my principal and told her the news. Right after our meeting, I texted my husband. He had just received a raise. Now, if that isn't a God thing, I don't know what is. My last day was the day  students got out for Christmas break in 2010.

I can't say that leaving was easy but I don't regret it. I hate that I didn't stay with my students until May but God sent them the best teacher. In fact, she had been praying for that position. I absolutely love being at home. I didn't get to miss my daughter's "firsts." That's what it's all about. She finally started sleeping through the night at 8 months. Can you imagine what I would've looked like with no sleep for 8 months straight, plus teaching all day. Whew! I hate to even think about the under-eye bags.

I know now that leaving teaching was the best decision I ever made or should I say God ever made for me. Because after I walked out of that meeting with my principal, that the very same peace that came over me when I changed my major 10 years earlier, came over me again. I knew that that was God's sign for me. I now have energy to spend with my family. I feel like cooking and cleaning. I have time for myself. I have time for my husband. I have time for my friends and family. I drive my son to Pre-K each day and
play with my daughter during the day. I'm now a car-line mom. I used to see them each day and wonder and now I know what it's like. My husband and I aren't on the verge of divorce anymore because had I continued on the path I was on, that's where we'd be today.

So, moms if you are able, and I said, "if," go home and be with your family. You will never regret that decision. Sure, I questioned what will define me now since I'm not a teacher anymore. What will be my identity? How will I depend solely on my husband for money? How will we get by? And that's hard learning how to let go and let God guide your life. If I ever had any reservations, I can tell you they left the day my son said, "Mom, I'm so glad you're home now to be with me!" That sweet comment was worth every sacrifice. When he looks back one day, sure he'll remember that mom was a teacher and how he used to come help me in my classroom but he'll cherish how his mom came home to be with him and his sister.  P.S. For the record, I have not lost my identity. I'm a mom, a wife, and a Willow House consultant....I just had to fit that one in. =) Good night everyone!
This is a picture of My 2 Blessings that I LOVE
{Disclaimer: I know I'm a teacher but if there are any grammatical errors, please forgive me. It's 12:26 am.}

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Study Abroad & a Second Degree!

Okay, so for those of you who are my new readers, Hello and welcome. You have stepped in to a crazy, chaotic and amazing life of Me, Nikki a college student at Oklahoma State. I have an amazing boyfriend, Cole, who helps me to achieve things I never thought I could do and my adorable little dog, Peaches, who cuddles me the best she can. My blog is about my life and my co-blogger's life, Ashley, a wonderful wife, mom and awesome consultant! Together we make this blog and make everything happen, while it may seem that we dont always post every day or few days, let me assure you, WE ARE BUSY! And here is a little insight to my latest bit of busyness.

I'M GOING TO SCOTLAND AND FINLAND in 6 months!!!!!

Well now that kinda said it all..sorry I was to excited to not do it! Now let me explain why I am going and how I am making it happen! I am a Hotel & Restaurant Administration major with an emphasis on Back of House (I have my Culinary degree). I came to OSU wanting to gain more knowledge of how the rest of my industry works and how each part runs. Since I have been here since last August, I have heard about study abroad and a program called FIPSE. Through the program, I will travel to Scotland for a year to go to school, do my internship, then I will travel to Finland to the Turku University and study for one semester, where I will take classes and learn Finnish, eventually get my degree from Robert Gordon University in Scotland. You ask, what will your degree be in? Well here from OSU my degree will be a B.S. in Hotel & Restaurant Administration and my degree from RGU will be a B.A. in International Hospitality Studies. Now how did this program come about? Well amazing professors from all 3 universities put together 121 page document to submit to all the countries involved about what we would be doing and asked for funding. So now, when I first heard about this program, I thought to my self, who cares how much it is, I want to go! Well, I then realized I needed to care when I started seeing how much other programs cost.

So how am I doing this whole year and a half trip? Well the wonderful US Government gave a grant to the college help us pay for some of it, $15000 total per student to be exact! And let me say THANKS to them, this covers my tickets there and home, my apartment and bus passes while I am there and even some food if I eat cheap. Not to mention, I pay normal OSU tuition and fees so my semester price will be the same as it is now, except no parking permit fee, no meal plan needed and less books since they dont use them. But yet, how will I cover the rest of my food and travel if I want to go somewhere and the all important souvenirs?!  Well my friends, this is where scholarships come in to play. Since I am going abroad for over a year, I have access to so many scholarships others do not, PLUS there is an HRAD scholarship set up just for FIPSE, meaning that it could only cost me about $2000 to get this second degree, that will not only change me as a person, but it will open the door to so many different jobs for me!

Now what does this mean for me and Cole? Nothing! Except we will be getting phone cards, I will get a cell phone in Scotland and Finland, lots of Skype, Imessage and FaceTime. Plus, I have already started to save for Cole to come over and visit since he has never been. I must say, I am one lucky girl to have a man by her side that understands how big of an opportunity this is and that it is life changing. While he is not fond of me being gone for so long, he does support me fully and I am so greatful! I am so excited to go and have him come over after a semester and meet up with me and me show him the UK..I LOVE THE UK..it is one of my favorite places in the world!

Now, what will happen to the blog you ask while I am gone? Nothing, they have internet and I fully plan to continue reviews and giveaways (done by Ashley, unless someone wants to ship to Scotland). I also think that you will all enjoy my tails of travel and school in the UK and Finland. With all this said, I can not wait to see what is in store for me in AUGUST! I am not exactly excited about the 15 hour flight, but the experiences will make up for that! With all this said..I must get back to scholarship applications, paperwork for visa's and figureing out what the heck their phone plans mean!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Mary Kay Mascara with Heather


Mary Kay Mascara Review

Let me start off by saying I am not a huge make up girl. I prefer the all natural look, with the occasional night on the town, or job interview classy look. I don’t tend to do the crazy huge lashes, but I have used some of those crazy volume mascaras. So with that said, let me tell you about this mascara, Mary Kay's #1 seller! For $15, from our amazing sponsor Heather, you can get a mascara that I found does it all! From soft natural looking lashes for a daily wear like I did for a weekish for this review to a pumped up night lash. 



The mascara did not clump, many people thought I had amazing natural no make up lashes, since all I wore was the mascara and chapstick. Like some mascara formulas I have tried of other companies this one was not overly wet, I could sneeze (since I’m sick) with out having to wipe half my face off, but it also wasn’t so dry that it flaked. In fact, the mascara never flaked, even when I rubbed my eyes. 


 excuse my deer in the headlights look..no make up

after one coat
after two coats, perfectly not clumped, oh and i dont use a curler..they creep me out so I have curly lashes with this mascara!

Okay so the removal of this amazing mascara. While some of the mascaras I have worn in the past, that were great during the day became a nightmare when it was time to take off. This mascara was awesome! Not only did it last all day, not flake and held up well to the rain and sickness from my eyes, it came right off. It came off, without me loosing some lashes, pain or a lot of time. Something I find rare, and after talking to other girls who LOVE make up, I find that most have to use a remover. I choose not to use a remover due to my skin being so picky and acne prone, I don’t like to give it another reason to break out. I took it off with my plain old clay soap, which is a whole other story that we will cover soon in another post.

So why should you try this mascara? Why should you pick it over the $8-$12 mascara at the store? Why should you choose it over all the ones I will show you how you can get next to nothing? Well here it is, the product simply works, it took me a day or two to get the right amount down, but when I did I looked natural when I wanted and classic when I needed and I even had a night of pumped up lashes all provided in one little bottle. Normally I would use two different brands to get the pumped up lashes so they would last a whole night in the rain. 

Do I think that $15 is a little steep? Yes, I think it is a tad bit pricy, but heres how you get it for free! Host a party with Heather, you could get this and a ton of other great Mary Kay products free when you host a show. 

Do I think they could improve the product? Slightly, I will say the brush sometimes holds to much mascara and it can become hard to use and can start to clump, but easy fix..clean off the brush and start over. 

Am I sold? Will I buy this in my future? I think I might buy this, considering that I didn’t break out, it came off easy, left my lashes soft, kept me looking natural and classic and doesn’t break the bank like some mascaras I have tried. I mean what was I thinking when I paid $50 for mascara in high school..oh wait I wasn’t!

Okay, so are you ready to win an awesome prize from Heather? Here’s how you can win!

Giveaway Rules:
*Open to US residents only

Mandatory Entry:
*Must be a Google Friend Connect of A Girl In A Guy's World 
*Must visit website
*Must comment what your favorite item is that she has
*Must say if you are NEW or A PRO at Mary Kay
*Must provide e-mail in comment


Optional Entries (1 extra entry per...)
(must include in your entry post that you did these in order for them to count):
*Share this giveaway on you FB profile or page.
*Tweet about this giveaway.
*Blog about this giveaway.
*Refer a friend to A Girl In A Guy's World
*Buy any item from Heather or host a party!

Make sure to put your e-mail in your comment. Each extra entry is in the SAME comment. If no e-mail provided new winner is picked.

Giveaway closes at midnight on January 30th
 

Winner will be selected via Random.org on January 31st and announced on the blog and on our Facebook page. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to claim their prize, or another winner will be picked.

Special thanks to Heather, for offering this giveaway!

Hair Candy Review and Giveaway


Who doesn't love a custom, handmade item? Who loves a cute purse? Who loves something small? Who loves things that can go inside bigger things? That’s right THIS GIRL DOES!! I am not your typical girlie girl, even though I am making strides to become more girlie, I don’t always like to carry a purse, especially not a huge big one, well except for my big purple Coach purse Cole got me..LOVE that one! So I look for smaller purses. Whether it be a cross body, amazing clutch, stuffable purse (you know, for inside the big one so you don’t have to take the whole thing in walmart) or just my little mini wallet that hooks to my keys that’s what I like.  So when we were contacted by a Stillwater, OK company who makes AMAZING headbands, STUNNING clutches and ADORABLE MUST HAVE baby items, I knew it was ment to be. 



Hair Candy is a semi local to me company. It is run by a mom who just wants to make all the cute boutique purses, hair wear and baby items affordable to everyone, through her etsy shop and her facebook page. She offers tons of options for everything she make’s, from pick your own fabrics and accents to help her design the item. 

Hair Candy sent us this SUPER CUTE clutch wristlet and an adorable headband, which will be covered in another post this week. She let me pick out my fabrics and then she went to work on making it. I choose zebra and polka dots in orange and black of course, have to show my COWBOY pride. The clutches range from $18-$22 plus shipping, which is a great deal considering how fast she gets them done and that you pick the fabric and everything is made FOR YOU!  All the clutches are lined and have a pocket perfect for phone, keys, gum, lip gloss, you know the small things that get lost.

 Perfect for the Zombie Lover

I used the wristlet clutch as a true wristlet for a few days and then as a stuffable for the rest of the time. I had to be a big kid and go on interviews so I needed my nicer leather purse but didn’t want to carry all the stuff in it. I loved this purse! It was perfect to hold my chapstick, touch up make up, mini wallet, phone and hand sanitizer and lotion.  Now, I didn’t carry all of this at once, make up was only if I wore it that day, but everything else stayed in the bag. The zipper is always a big deal for me since when I am girlie, I do tend to over stuff my purse and let me say..I did try to with this one, made the little guy so chunky it hardly closed, but the zipper stayed, didn’t unstitch, didn’t pucker and didn’t get stuck! 

Do I think there could be improvements?
    Well, it did stain a bit and I considered putting something on it but decided not to, just washed it in my washer and my stains came out!
    Another pocket or set of credit card pockets, I think those would be a great addition to add just 2-3 pockets for cards, that way they would be secure and you wouldn’t need to have another bag inside it.

Will I buy from Hair Candy?
  OF COURSE! I LOVE her fabric choices, her quick turn around time, AMAZING prices and willingness to work with her customers.

What Would I Buy?
    Zipper coin purse, one of my FAV items ever invented, baby items for friends (such cute items) and maybe even another clutch. 



Want to win this clutch? Here’s How!


Giveaway Rules:
*Open to US residents only

Mandatory Entry:
*Must be a Google Friend Connect of A Girl In A Guy's World 
*Must "like" facebook.
* Must visit her etsy 
*Must comment what your favorite item is she makes
*Must provide e-mail in comment


Optional Entries (1 extra entry per...)
(must include in your entry post that you did these in order for them to count):
*Share this giveaway on you FB profile or page.
*Tweet about this giveaway.
*Blog about this giveaway.
*Refer a friend to A Girl In A Guy's World
*Buy any item from Hair Candy

Make sure to put your e-mail in your comment. Each extra entry is in the SAME comment. If no e-mail provided new winner is picked.

Giveaway closes at midnight on January 30th
 

Winner will be selected via Random.org on January 31st and announced on the blog and on our Facebook page. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to claim their prize, or another winner will be picked.

Special thanks to Hair Candy, for offering this giveaway!

Another Flood..

Well, I came back to school early yesterday that way I could get everything put up, and clean a little before classes started. Good thing I did, I came home AGAIN to a soaked closet and flooded apartment. This is time number 2 in 3 weeks, let me just say this is getting old and I am tired of it. They never found the leak last time after putting 3 holes in my closet, they just replaced the carpet and said that my neighbor must have flooded my apartment but they were never sure. I mean how can someone flood my apartment but not their own? I dont get it.

But here's what happened, I called matience and they came out and wet vacced the water up, took out the soaked padding and said they would come back today. Well a few hours later, the water was back with advengence! So I let them know, they said dont worry they will be here today. I wake up this morning and it is even worse, it has spread all over my apartment and it is nasty! So now, while I am at school, I wonder what I will come home to..new carpet? a hole in my closet? or maybe I will get a new apartment? Who knows..all I know is it was stinky, wet and annoying when I tried to get ready.

Now off to class I go! And to call a place I put a job app in at to see if I can get an interview! Hope everyone has a great day! I will be on tomorrow with reviews and giveaways!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Tupperware Party Hosted by ME


Tupperware Party
I am hosting a online Tupperware party for Sandra. I fell in love with my chopper during the review and want more Tupperware. If you would like to order from my party, please contact Sandra at lovechocolate59@yahoo.com
I will be giving a surprise gift to one lucky blog reader that orders and a gift to anyone who orders $100 or more from our party. I also will give you extra entries in to this giveaway if you refer friends to the party. Party is open till end of January.

The FREE gifts are from the BLOG! Not Sandra, so keep that in mind. Also make sure to check out their sale items, some stuff is up to half off this month!

Cant sleep..so I hear a DRUM ROLL!!!


Okay, as I promised I am catching up and first things first is a rant about how someone thinks we have "fake" reviews, then our winners and another BIG thank you to our sponsors Stephanie with Pampered Chef and Sandra with Scentsy.

Let me just say, I did receive an e-mail from someone saying that my reviews are not real, well written and don’t carry my opinion. Well let me assure you all, Ashley and I use every product sent to us, we do NOT do this for fun and to write a “fake” review. I work very hard on my blog and consider it a great way to share my tips, life, school trials and work with everyone. While I may not be the best reviewer, nor do I have kids, which that is why we have the lovely Ashley, but I do try my hardest. I put everything out there and on the line and I share a lot of stuff with everyone and try to make sure you all have fun reading my blog and reviews. I do try to give Ashley our children and mom friendly items, since my child is a fur baby. Which let me say, she does love her new stuffed animal, big thanks to Sandra! I just wanted to clear the air and say that here at A Girl In A Guy’s World, we are serious and we do write real reviews and if you feel other wise, feel free not to read about my life. I am not forcing you to, but I do think it is the nice thing to do. Since the golden rule is..If you cant say anything nice, do NOT say anything at all.

Back to the winners! Our first winner is for the way over due announcement of Stephanie’s Pampered Chef giveaway is #2, Amy Craft. Thank you to the two of you who entered. Make sure we thank Stephanie for this giveaway, because without her, I would not have this new amazing peppermint chocolate sauce for my ice cream on a bad day.

Our second winner is for the Scentsy Buddy giveaway, thanks to Sandra Foy. Our winner is #8, Lindsay Leigh. Thank you to all who entered this giveaway and lets remember to thank Sandra, she is our largest and most generous sponsor. She has bent over backwards and helped us keep our word to you by providing giveaways when consultants have bailed. 

Lets make sure we say a big thank you to both these ladies. They both stepped up for our blog when other backed down on short notice. Also, if you are a winner please make sure you respond to the sponsors e-mail with in 48 hours, or a new winner will be picked. Thanks!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Holy Smokes I'm Sick

Okay, so this week my blog hours have taken a sick day. I am sick as can be, no voice, stuffy nose, bad cough and no energy. But I did say I would blog every week, so I am blogging and I will be working on my reviews more today so hopefully they will make it up this weekend. Doctor says I should be feeling better by then, but let me just say going from a cold to broncitis really just kills me. Maybe next year I will say I wont get sick, since this happened last year too!

Let me just say how proud I am to be an Oklahoma State University Cowboy! I am so proud of the team for pulling out that win and for all be amazing and remembering the 4. Also, if you have no idea why the referenced the gundy after the win, head over to youtube and search teach me how to gundy. It will put a smile on your face!

Do you have kids in college? Do you think the prices are crazy for a textbook? Do you think that tuition goes up to much every year? Well here are a few tips on how I save money during my college career. Look in to renting textbooks, I dont do this because I love to keep my books and write in them, but renting a textbook can be less then half the price of the book. Buy the books online, great deals at half.com or amazon.com even barns and noble sales textbooks at lower prices then the on campus or near campus stores. I got all four of my books needed for this semester for $180, my books if I had gotten them through the school would have cost me over $450. I got all my books for under the price of just one of my books. All my books came brand new in the package and I of course used ebates to buy the books so I get cash back! Do you have a question on how to save on books? Feel free to leave me a comment and I will help you out! Now for that tuition hike problem, I know OSU offers a tuition lock program, while I do not use this I know a few students who do. The price is slightly higher then what I pay currently, but my price can change and theirs will not. It could save you thousands of dollars if started freshman year. Something else to look in to.

But here we go with our reciepe, this is what I eat every time I am sick since I dont like chicken noodle..I know how unAmerican of me. I eat Pho, an amazing chicken or beef Vietnamese noodle soup.

Ingredients

  1. 2 unpeeled yellow onions, quartered
  2. Three 1/2-inch-thick slices of fresh ginger, smashed
  3. 4 quarts cold water
  4. 3 pounds chicken bones or chicken wings
  5. One 3 1/2-pound chicken, quartered
  6. 1 tablespoon salt
  7. 2 teaspoons sugar
  8. 1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
  9. 1 pound dried rice noodles
  10. 1 scallion, thinly sliced
  11. 1 pound mung bean sprouts
  12. 1/2 cup torn basil leaves
  13. 2 limes, cut into wedges
  14. 2 jalapeños, thinly sliced
  15. Asian chili-garlic sauce and hoisin sauce, for serving
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Put the onions and ginger on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, or until softened and lightly browned.
  2. Fill a large stockpot with the water and bring to a boil. Add the roasted vegetables and the chicken bones, quartered chicken, salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to moderate and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 30 minutes.
  3. Using tongs, transfer the quartered chicken to a plate and let cool slightly. Remove the meat from the bones and refrigerate. Return the skin and bones to the stockpot and simmer for 2 hours longer. Strain the chicken broth into a large soup pot and cook over high heat until reduced to 12 cups, about 15 minutes. Stir in the fish sauce.
  4. In a large bowl of warm water, soak the noodles until pliable, about 20 minutes.
  5. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Drain the noodles, then add them to the saucepan and boil over high heat until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain well. Transfer the noodles to 6 large bowls and sprinkle with the scallion. Add the reserved chicken to the broth and simmer until heated through. Ladle the broth and chicken over the noodles. Serve with the bean sprouts, basil, lime wedges, jalapeños, chili-garlic sauce and hoisin sauce.
Make Ahead The recipe can be prepared through Step 3 and refrigerated for up to 2 days. 
 
This soup is amazing and perfect with a little hot pepper sauce to clear up you stuffyness. 
What are your favorite things to eat when you are sick? How do you get over the crud? 

Well, I need to go over my class schedule and get my books ready and pull the backpack back out and then take a nap. School starts Monday with 17 hours and a fun hotel lab at the Oklahoma State University Atherton. Have you ever thought to go stay at a hotel run by students? Let me just say the Atherton is a top notch hotel that is just as nice as any other 4 star hotel, located right next to the largest student union in the US!

Okay, now really, I must get ready for class. I cant not be prepared..that will drive me bonkers!

Have a Great Day!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year

The 2001 year has come to an end and 2012 has stared with a bang! I am sick as can be, running so behind on the blog due to Cole's surgery and feel like I havent cooked anything in awhile. So this is what I have come up to help, me, the blog, my readers and my life. I now have OFFICAL blog hours! I will be blogging every Tuesday and maybe once a weekend depending on my course load in school, and my outside life. I will say, I do have giveaways and reviews to put up, a winner to announce and a lot of recipes to share!

So the NEW BLOG will include the following:
A review and giveaway
Recipes at least twice a month
My trials in school, life and hopefully work soon
My job hunt
Ashley's family life
Ashley's side of being a mom
Frugal Tips


So with this said, here is your first reciepe for 2012 from me!

Churro Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar (see note below)
1/4 tsp salt
16 T unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and softened
2 T cream cheese, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
2T melted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2T plus 2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt


Note: If you can't find superfine sugar (castor sugar), simply process 1 cup granulated sugar in a food processor for about 30 seconds, then measure out 3/4 cup for the recipe. 

Directions:
1. Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time. Continue to beat the flour-butter mixture until it looks crumbly and slightly wet, 1-2 minutes.

2. Beat in the cream cheese and vanilla until the dough just begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds. Knead the dough in the bowl by hand a few times until it forms a large cohesive mass. 

3. Roll cookie dough into rods about 3/4-1 inch in diameter. Cut the rods into 3 inch pieces, place on a plate and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 2T plus 2tsp cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. 


4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place cookies on a baking sheet, with about an inch between each cookie. Using a pastry brush, brush each cookie with melted butter, and then sprinkle with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar mixture. 


5. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and immediately place indentations lengthwise along the cookies using a wooden skewer. Let cookies cool for five minutes on the cookie sheet, then place on a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Optional - For more cinnamon-sugar flavor, brush cooled cookies with more melted butter and sprinkle again with cinnamon sugar. 

Serving Ideas- Vanilla Ice Cream or Custard or some amazing Spiced Apples or Apple Pie Filling maybe even some Apple Butter

Hope everyone has a great 2012!