Melted Snowman Cookies!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

I saw these melted snowman cookies on Pinterest, and I wanted to try them. I went hunting for a recipe/tutorial and found this website! Super cool things on it. Now, since somehow it worked out that Van and I both had Christmas eve off together, we decided to give these cute little cookies a try. I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it a little more simple!

I don't think I have decorated cookies since I was probably 10, so after a trip to the store we came home with this, Wilton Decorating Icing. I also bought some decorating tips!

We ended up using Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix, but feel free to use a from scratch recipe if you have one.  Make your cookie dough and roll out with flour. We used a cookie cutter to make circles for our snowmen. We also made some santas, trees and stockings!

Thanks Van for the lovely pictures. (Note to self, look nicer for blog pictures)

Payback.

Nova providing moral support.

Bentley in his usual spot, pouting. He NEEDS attention 24/7.

...ANYWAY...

Next, bake your cookies to the appropriate time, then take out of the oven and let cool. 

Next make your ROYAL ICING

You will need Powdered Sugar and Egg Whites.

Depending on how many cookies you will be Icing, and how many colors you would like to use, depends on how much to mix. We mixed 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar and 2 egg whites. ( I thought the color could have been more white, so possibly use more powdered sugar).

It can also be mixed with food coloring!

Cover your cookies with the Royal Icing. A little goes a long way, so put a small amount in the middle and spread with a spoon. I made some puddling on the edges to show the melting of the snowman

NEXT. You will want to take a plate and put some sort of greased surface on it. We used PAM. Then place your marshmallows on it. Stick them in the microwave until they start to puff. DO NOT let them get huge or you can't use them.

When they puff in the microwave, spray some PAM on your fingers so the marshmallows do not stick to you. Take the marshmallows and put them on the cookies. Push the top down a little bit. 

Pretty? I know they aren't!! Let the icing set before you begin to decorate. 

Now, I know these aren't gorgeous cookies, but we are proud of them! We used the decorative icing and icing tips to make scarves, bow ties, and eyes and buttons on the snowmen.

Be creative!! 

We also had some different sprinkles to help decorate.

The special guy on the left is compliments of Van!! :)

Picture perfect or not, these Snowman cookies were a great way to spend our Christmas Eve, even Van enjoyed it!

Here are some other cookies that we decorated tonight!

Hope everyone has a PERFECT Christmas!!

-Megan

Balsamic Pot Roast with Onion, YUM!

So, this week has been so crazy busy I don't even know where to start. Family Christmas gatherings have started, school is kicking my butt, and Van started a new job yesterday! He is finally on first shift and we can live a normal life for the first time ever. We have decided to get on a "healthy kick" and are trying to save money to pay off the rest of our debt and save for a HOUSE! :) Nothing makes me more excited than thinking about decorating my own home!! So last night we made our famous yummy fajitas. I forgot to take pictures, so I will post that recipe later! Tonight we had left overs, but went to the store for ingredients for dinner the rest of the week. We decided on Balsamic Pot Roast and Onions. (not sure how healthy it is, so lets call this 'easing in' haha). We have been trying to save money, so meal planning has been a priority for us.  So, imagine my joy when we walked up to the meat counter, and chuck roast was buy one get one FREE. FREEEEE!!! I literally jumped up and down, and I think in the process embarrassed Van. Pathetic maybe, but I was really excited. One went in to the freezer, and the other went in to prep work! Here is what you need!

3-4 lb Chuck Roast

2-3 Onions

Balsamic Vinegar

Beef Stock

Tomato Sauce

Dry Rub of Your Choice

We decided to prep this the night before to make for an easier morning, now that we are both up at 6 am and are not morning people. (coffee pot also went on a timer tonight)

Step one: 

Cut your onions thick, like massive onion rings:

Step Two:  (Sorry, No picture of this part) Put a dry rub of your liking on your roast (we used a gravy packet, because that is what we had)

Step Three: (Also no picture)

Mix 1 cup of Beef Stock, 1/2 cup Tomato Sauce, 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar together in a covered bowl.

You are done for now if you want to finish this in the morning, OR put it in the crock pot now and cook. I read somewhere not to put everything in the crock pot bowl dish thingy beforehand (anyone know why?) So I put everything in separate containers for overnight in the refrigerator.

In the MORNING at 6am when all you want to do is go back to sleep, get all of your ingredients out of the refrigerator. Put the Onions down in a layer on the bottom of the crock pot.


Then, put the meat on top, and cover with remaining onions. Pour the sauce mixture over top of the meat and onions.

 Cook on low for 6-8 hours while you are at work or whatever it is that you may do during your day! 

There are many ways to serve pot roast. Van and I decided to shred the meat and serve it with mashed potatoes and the onions. We used some of the juicy yummyness in the crockpot to make a gravy/sauce to serve over ours to keep it moist!

May not be pretty, but it tasted good!

Hope you like this, we did!

-Megan

10 Best Hair Products

Hey everyone! I was doing a product overhaul this week, throwing out empties, marrying the half empty bottles with other half empty bottles, and finding products that I forgot I had. For those that don't know, I was a hair stylist for 5 years before I decided to go back to school. I worked at one of the top salon and spas in town and was fortunate enough to use the BEST products available. Here are 10 of my favorites!

Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Perfect Iron Spray

Alterna is my my favorite hair product line. This product is a heat activated spray that protects your hair from hot styling tools like your flat iron and curling iron. It is AMAZING. It provides protection for your hair up to 450°! And it smells really good!

Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Moisture Shampoo

This is one of my favorites, every time I change up my shampoo and conditioner, I always end up back using this duo. It is a sulfate free shampoo, very moisturizing, it has an anti-aging complex which is great for long hair! It even has UV protection! Well worth the price, it is very concentrated, a little goes a long way. 

Bamboo Cleanse Extend Dry Shampoo

This is the best dry shampoo out there. It is as translucent as a dry shampoo gets. Even on my dark hair you can't tell its there. There is nothing worse than seeing white powder in someone's hair. It is great as a dry shampoo to refresh 2nd (or 3rd) day hair, but it can also be used as a volumizer on dry clean hair!

Moroccan Oil Treatment

Everyone's favorite! Moroccan Oil! This is a great moisturizing treatment with many uses, it even speeds up your drying time! Perfect for all of you with thick hair. There is even a "light" option for all of you blondes out there! It makes your hair so soft and so healthy!

Moroccan Oil Restorative Hair Mask

This is a conditioning treatment. It is great to heal damaged and color treated hair. The best part? No Heat is required. You put it on towel dried hair for about 5 minutes and then rinse well with cool water!

Schwarzkopf Osis Dust It

This is a great texturizing product. It is a matifying powder that comes out like a salt and pepper shaker. It is great to use on short hair to create a textured style. It provides EXCELLENT volume. It can also be used on longer hair. If any of you are like me, my hair is too soft to hold teasing in place. If you put this at your scalp and tease over it, it will hold all day and night!

Schwarzkopf Osis Freeze

This is a great hairspray. It has great hold, but brushes out well too. It drys fast and is great to use while curling your hair and to hold updos!

Deva Curl

I can't pick just one product from this line. If ANYONE has curly hair you NEED these products. (Products can be used on straight hair as well). Curly hair is naturally more dry than others and moisture is a necessity. The Deva products are amazing. The cleanser is a No Lather cleanser and when rinsed out feels like you just rinsed out your conditioner. Take a look around on their site and be sure to read their styling tips. It will change your life (and your curls).

Philip Pelusi Exfoliating Shampoo

This is a great shampoo for anyone that struggles with dry scalp. Sometimes during the winter with all of the dry air, people can get dandruff, not the most pleasant thing. This shampoo exfoliates your scalp! It calms scalp irritation but moisturizes your hair in the process, and its color safe!

Philip Pelusi Clarifying Shampoo

This is an excellent clarifying shampoo. It removes impurities from your hair, but is color safe. It will NOT fade color. It is also great to use in the summer to remove Chlorine build up on your hair. Blondes that fear their hair turning green? Use this! Shampoo you hair with this before and after you are in the pool. 

Give some of these products a try, they are well worth the price! Once you use salon products you will never want to use the drug store lines ever again! Enjoy!

-Megan

A Little Something to Brighten Your Day!

A short post for you today! I was looking around on Pinterest, the usual wind down time for me, and came across this website that has some HILARIOUS stories on it it. They are about husbands, kids, random things women deal with, etc.. There was one in particular that had me laughing SO hard. I will admit, its a little gross, but really funny. I sent it to Van to read while he was at work. Him and all of his "man friends" at work cringed when they saw the title and realized it was for women. But after reading the story, they ending up clicking around on the site for the rest of their shift. Check it out HERE. Hopefully you will find it as entertaining as I did!

Happy Sunday from Bentley and Nova!

Chaos in the Midst of Chaos

I've let it be too long since my last post, time to get back on track. Life has been busy lately. To add on to the already chaotic daily life, Van's car broke down and we had 2 birthdays to celebrate in the last week. Van's engine blew up on the side of the highway, forcing us to buy another car. We got a Jeep, the engine light came on the minute it was driven off of the lot, of course. After 3 days, that was finally fixed. In the midst of all of that, I had to make sure my school work was finished on time AND had to put something together for Van AND Nova's birthdays. It turned in to an all night cram session, with two dogs apparently starved of attention making countless interruptions...

The next day it was Birthday time! The weather was pretty crappy, and we had to drop the new car off at the dealership, so we had lunch and went to the mall. We went to Moochie and Co to get Nova his own birthday cake, stopped at the store and then home for a relaxed birthday evening. Some pictures to share...

Nova and his cake. He is so photogenic.

Nom nom nom...

Van and Nova, Birthday Boys!!

Happy Birthday babe!

Be back later this week with some fun posts!

Megan