My dinner menu for the week

I'm focusing on being healthy and one way for me to do that is to plan ahead. I don't want to sabotage myself by getting too hungry (or shopping hungry!) and stuffing the first available food into my mouth, I want to have good choices available to me which means planning ahead and stocking my house. That is exactly what I did this week. :)

I thought I would share my dinner menu with you in case you needed a little inspiration. I know I'm starting on Tuesday and I should have shared this a little earlier in the week but.....better late than never.

Here goes...

Last night I made a skinny version of chicken fried rice, very tasty and both kids ate it up. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook (and I hope you do!) you may have already seen this picture.

Here's a direct link to the recipe on Pinterest. I made a couple of changes, instead of four egg whites I used three whole eggs and I upped the peas to a full cup rather than a half....otherwise the same!

Tonight is all about the crock pot which means easy, and this one is easy even for a crock pot recipe! It's just chicken thighs, salsa, a few spices....and it turns into this delicious chicken which you can then put on top of a salad like in this picture where I got the recipe from, or if you have a daughter who loves all things Mexican then you can have it in tacos which is what we'll be doing tonight.

Here is a link to the recipe on Skinnytaste. I'm looking forward to having the leftovers on top of romaine for my lunch tomorrow.

Wednesday will be this delicious looking quinoa salad and moose steaks (I'm so lucky to have a father who hunts and shares!).

It will be a very protein dense meal between the steaks and the quinoa, I have a feeling we will be full. Here is a link to the recipe.

Thursday will be another one from Skinnytaste, one I've had before and is really tasty. Dirty brown rice with Shrimp....yum!

Here's a link to the recipe, Gina has yet to steer me wrong!

And finally Friday will be pan fried pork chops with these delicious grilled zucchinis.

You can find the recipe here.

Some good stuff coming up this week, and I'm already working on next weeks meals too. Pinterest is great for finding some wonderfully inspired cooking, and a good place to find lower calorie meals too if that's what you're looking for. Feel free to follow me by clicking here.

I am always looking for cooking inspiration so if there is a recipe or recipes you've been enjoying then please share in the comments section.

Five minute hair

Looking for a quick way to tame your unruly locks before heading out the door? Today I'm sharing two quick styles that I've relied on many times. They look polished and pulled together and take hardly any time at all.

Look number 1: 

The 'do on the left side is the quickest of the two. All you need is a brush and one hair elastic. Brush through your hair to remove any knots, gather it over to whichever side you want the braid to be on and start a very loose french braid from the back of your head to the side and fasten with the elastic. If the braid is a bit too tight you can always gently pull on it to loosen it. You can leave it as is or loosen a few hairs from the front to soften the look a bit.

Look number 2: 

This one looks difficult but is actually very easy, all you need is a brush, one elastic and several bobby pins. Brush through your hair to remove any knots and then bend over at the waist and brush your hair forward. Start french braiding from the back of your head forward and once all the hair is in the braid (don't braid to the very end of the hair, only to the top of your head) secure the hair with the elastic but don't pull all the hair through on the final pull through, bring it about 3/4 of the way so it looks like a big bump. Spread the bump out into a big bun and start pinning it with bobby pins. Once the bun looks how you like give it a light mist of hair spray and you're good to go.

I hope you enjoyed these two looks, please let me know in the comments section which one is your favourite and if you'd like to see more posts like this one.

Happy Monday!

Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara review

I know I know....its been a looooong time since I've posted, but a recent haul from Sephora meant that I just had to blog.

I bought quite a few things but what sparked the trip itself was Too Faced's Better Than Sex mascara, you know with a name like that I had to try it.

I love the packaging, the soft rose gold colour is so pretty and thanks to the popularity of things like the Naked 3 palette from Urban Decay this colour is everywhere.

The wand is shaped like an hourglass in homage to the sexy screen sirens of the past, but the middle part doesn't tuck in so far that you can't get the wand to reach your lashes.....a pet peeve of mine.

 I tried it the same night I got it home (excited much?) and was really happy to find that it not only gives you big lashes (and it does) but that it is very buildable, you can do several coats without it clumping up. I have been wearing it every day for the last week now and have found that it does get a little smudgy so I make sure and wear a primer around my eyes which really helps as it keeps the oil in your skin away from the mascara, and I also don't use it on my bottom lashes. I use a Sephora brand mascara on my bottom lashes that has some good staying power.

Look at the difference here, this is only one eye done (two coats):

And then both (three coats):

This is top lashes only as stated above. Look at the size of them...pretty amazing don't you think? Please don't judge the rest of me...I went make up free other than the mascara so you could see it in all it's glory. 

Overall I really like this mascara and would purchase it again. It doesn't make your lashes feel hard and brittle and it's easy to remove. I had purchased Benefit's They're Real mascara last year and hardly wore it because it was so hard to get off.

How about you? Have you tried this mascara? Thoughts? What is your very favourite mascara these days?