No Bake Protein Balls

Well, today is a busy day!! I am currently in the process of getting ready to head to another softball tournament.  Yes.. I know.. Surprise, Surprise!  That is the name of our game during the summer months.  Fingers crossed for another great weekend.  We had an amazing weekend last year and I got to watch the BF win both the Men's and CoEd division at the tournament last weekend.  I'm sure you other girlfriends know what I mean when I say it is so fun to get to watch you're guy do what he loves to do!

Anyways, back to today's blog! ... I want to share with you one of the things that is becoming a staple for our out of town tournaments... No Bake Protein Balls.  I discovered one day when I was browsing Pinterest a few recipes for essentially no bake oatmeal cookies.  I found two recopies and have developed what has become a no bake protein oatmeal butterscotch/chocolate chip cookie.  They are amazing and so simple!  I will link at the end of the post the links to the two original recesses that I modified to create mine.  These can also be found on my "Softball Widow" Pinterest board!

Now... on to the recipe!!

Seriously, what you see above is pretty much all you need! I forgot to include the vanilla in this picture.  It's that simple!

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup vanilla protein power
1/2 cup of each butterscotch and chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
Coconut - I failed to actually measure this.  But at the last minute I just dumped a little in the bowl.  It probably ended up being about 1/4 of a cup.

Instructions:

I have found that the easiest way to get everything all mixed togheter
1 - Mix your oatmeal and protein together in a bowl and set it aside.
2 - Combine your honey and peanut butter together and then stick it in the microwave for about 30 or 45 seconds.  Essentially just long enough to make the peanut butter more runny and easier to combine with the other ingredients.  Keep in mind that if you have it too hot, when you add you chocolate and butterscotch chips they will melt!
3 - After you have completely mixed your peanut butter and honey, add in your vanilla and then slowly add in your oatmeal/protein mixture.
4 - Finally add in your chocolate/butterscotch chips and coconut.
5 - Create bit sized balls and place them on a baking sheet and place them in the fridge to cool.  After they have cooled the peanut butter and honey will act as the binding agent.

This makes about 28 bite sized balls. 

And that's it!  These have seriously been such a hit ... Your feel like you are getting a treat and there's not much to them!

Like I said, modified a few other recipes to come up with this one.  If you are interested in the original recipes, here are the links!

www.busybuthealthy.com - No Bake Chocolate chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars

mycrazygoodlife.com - Oatmeal Energy Clusters

Until next time!

xoxo,
Mikal-Anne

Easy Breakfast Casserole

Hi lovelies!  Today I want to talk about something a little different ... My parents stayed with me a few weekends ago.  They were on their way to my cousin's graduation party and on their way they stayed with me and I was searching for something that I could do quickly for breakfast before they hit the road again that was more than just putting a bowl of cereal in font of them.  So... I was on Pinterest.. because I really needed another reason to be wasting time on Pinterest! Ha! Anyway... I found this simple breakfast casserole that was great.  I will link to the website below...

Seriously, this is the easiest recipe!!

Ingredients:

12 eggs

1 cup of shredded cheese

3 cups of shredded hash browns

1 can of crescent roll dough

6 slices of bacon - I did way more! I just eyed it

optional: other toppings: veggies, other meats, cheeses, mushrooms etc.

salt and pepper to taste -- I just bought the frozen hash browns with peppers and onions already included

Instructions:

Fry up bacon and place on a paper towel to drain.

Roll out the crescent roll dough into a greased casserole dish.

Spread shredded hash browns on top of the dough.

Beat eggs in a bowl, salt and pepper to taste, and spread over the hash browns. -- I also did garlic

Crumble up bacon and sprinkle the bacon bits over the eggs.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Remove casserole from oven and sprinkle cheese on top.

Place back in oven just until cheese melts.

The original recipe can be found at - www.freshdreamer.com

Until next time!

xoxo,

Mikal-Anne

Smokey Everyday Face of the Day

Howdy howdy!  As I mentioned in my previous blog, last weekend I had a busy Saturday, visiting our local farmer's market with a friend, working in my garden, and heading to a graduation party for the daughter of a family friend.  When I was getting ready that morning, I knew I needed to do a full face look that would last all day.  When I say last day, I mean without a ton of touch up.  Cause, girls, I am not someone who is good at doing touch ups.  With the exception of my lip color, I don't often apply much after the initial application...  This is what I came up with!

Face makeup:

• Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer
• CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous, 3-in-1 Foundation in 820 Creamy Natural
• NYX HD Concealer in CW04 Beige - for covering up my dark circles
• NYX HD Concealer in CW01 Porcelain - for additional coverage but mainly to highlight my under eye
• Tarte Smooth Operator - to set my under eye concealer.  This is not picture above.  I got a small sample around the holidays with something I bought. It's perfect to set my concealer!
• Revlon Nearly Nake Press Powerder in 010 Fair - to set my foundation.  I apply this lightly all over my face, being careful to not apply where my concealer is.  If it catches where my concealer is, sometimes it can settle into lines. 
• NYX Matte Bronzer in Medium - I both bronze and contour  with this product.  
• HIKARI blush in Tango - Love love love this shade.  It's super pigmented so I apply with with a stipling brush to ensure I have a light hand with it.  I got this in my April Ipsy bag, check out the post here!
• Mary Kay highlight in Pink Stardust - I lightly apply this on the tops of my cheekbones.  Tango is a matte blush and sometimes I just want a little highlight on my cheeks!

Eye make up:

• Mary Kay Eye primer
• Ulta eye shadow in Bermuda Sand - I apply this all over my eye lid and all the way up to my eye brow.  I seriously love this shadow! I don't think I do a single eye look that doesn't start out with this shade.  It is great as a base and just as great all by it's self!  
• Urban Decay eye shadow in Beware from the Oz Great & Powerful pallet - I take this on a big fluffy brush and apply it in my crease.  I use this as a base to start darkening up my outer corner.  But because I apply it with a big fluffy brush it also sets down the shade to work as a transition shade. 
• Urban Decay eye shadow in West from the Oz Great & Powerful pallet - This is the dark shadow that I use to darken up my outer corner of my eye lid.  I place this from my outer corner inwards and start up into my crease.  This is a shade that can be really dramatic or an every day shade.  Just apply as much until you get the look you want.  I often time also bring this down onto my lower lash line to work as my eye liner on my lower lid.  It has a shimmer to it that is beautiful!
• Mary Kay eye shadow in Cooper Glow - Ah! This is such a beautiful shade! It's great for just adding a little extra kick to your eye look.  I take a big fluffy brush and use this to buff out the colors already in my outer corner in and crease.  It adds a little extra without looking like you've put whole other color into the mix.
• Ulta eye shadow in Au Naturel - This is another shadow that use in every look I do.  I take this on a big fluffy brush and I buff and blend out the edge of the other shadows up to my eye brow.  This is a good skin tone color that will make sure you don't have any harsh edges.
• Revlon Color Stay eye liner in Brown - I apply this on my upper lash line and my lower lash line.  Then I use the built in smudger to smudge out my lower lash line.  I only place this from my outer corner to about 3/4 of the way in.  I find on my eye, it is too harsh of a look to go all the way to my inner corner.
• Ulta eye shadow in a dark brown color - Sorry guys! I depotted this color and now I don't know what shade it is! This is a color that matches the eye liner I use on a daily basis.  I use this on an eye liner brush and use it to set the eye liner I have applied. This sets the pencil liner and also soften the edges.

Don't judge me, but I use three mascaras! Yes, three!  But the look I get, I just can't get with just one.  What I love is that with the three mascaras I get three different consistencies of mascara and brushes. This allows me to lengthen, built up volume, and ensure I don't end up with those spidery and clumpy lashes.  No girl has time for that!!

• Revlon Lash Potion by Grow Lusious in Blackened Brown
• L'Oreal Paris Extra Volume Collagen Mascara in Black Brown
• Almay One Coat, Get Up & Grow in Black Brown

Lips and Eyebrow Makeup:

• Chella Eyebrow Color Pencil in Tantalizing Taupe - I got this in my May Ipsy bag, read my blog about it here!
• Jane Iredale Bitty Brow Kit - I use the powder in this kit to soften the edges of the pencil
• Mary Key Eyebrow Gel
• NYX lip liner in Nude Pink
• Tarte LipSurgence in Romantic
• Tarte LipSurgence Lipglass in Visionary

Now, how did it all last... below is a picture I took at the graduation party.  I put on my makeup that morning around 9 am and this picture below is taken probably around 8 pm... 

• My my lip color has rubbed off.  We ate dinner and I never re-applied my lip color.  
• My hair - I had taken out my bobby pins that had the front of my hair pinned up because they were bothering me.  It rained and so the curls in my hair fell a bit flat
• My foundation and concealer has lasted, but my cheek color and bronzer has faded a bit..

Over all, I think this looks good figuring between applying it and this picture I had gone to the farmer's market, planted in my garden, and gone to the graduation party!  

What do you think!?  Would you want to try any of these products if you were looking for a long lasting look? .. I hope you enjoyed this look!  I wear this look often and these seem to be my go to products that I know I can count on!

xoxo,
Mikal-Anne

Monday Morning Coffee: May Ipsy

Good morning lovelies! I hope that everyone had a great weekend.  Of course, they always seem to go too fast!! I got to spend the weekend digging in the dirt! I wish I would have known how much I liked gardening a long time ago!  I find it so relaxing and wish I would have started way sooner.  I got to put my cucumbers, carrots, and peas in the ground!  I will have to do an updated blog to show you their progress.  It's amazing how fast the little seeds change!

I also spent a busy Saturday visiting our local Farmer's Market and heading to a graduation party for the daughter of family friends of my boyfriend's family.  The make up look I did will be featured in a face of the day that will be my next blog post.  I use some products I've gotten in Ipsy bags... keep an eye out for that!!

Now, lets get caught up on the Ipsy bags!  I am a bit behind on these and we're already into June and I am just discussing my May Ipsy bag! I know... I know... it am behind!  But, there's something about the months this time of year, they just seem to go faster!  If I'm being honest, it's probably just me trying to jam more into these months than other months!  I can't be the only who does this!

I don't usually discuss the actual make up bag that is included in these Ipsy boxes, but I have to talk about this one.  I love that it is a little bit bigger than the bags that are usually included.  I love to re-purpose these bags.  Don't let me fool you, the reason that I don't often use these for carrying make up is because they are just a bit too small. But! They work great for other things.  I do use one in my purse to carry the make up I carry around.  Which is mostly lip products :-| ... My boyfriend calls me a goo hoarder! Ha! ...

But I also have used a bag to carry all of my electronic cords.  I am one of those people who unfortunately have a different cord for each electronic..  I have a kindle, Iphone, and Ipod.  My Ipod is the older version, so it obnoxiously has a different cord than my Iphone.  Anyways, I love having all of my cards contained.  Ipsy bags are perfect for this.

Also, I find Ipsy bags are perfect for traveling.  I have one that I use to carry any medication when traveling.  I use those little travel pots that you can get like 3 for $.99 at Walmart or Target to put medication in that comes in a bigger bottle, like my over the counter allergy medicine or my motion sickness medicine.  Then I put everything in a bag.  Or, when traveling I will some times separate out my lip products.  That way I can just throw the whole bag into my purse.

I also have one at work in my desk.  it's a great way to disguise those feminine products.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has some stashed at my desk for those 'just in case' moments.  I am also sure I'm not the only one that doesn't want a tampon just rolling around! So, I use one to hide those.

Another idea that I've done.. I had a friend who had a baby boy a little while ago.  For her shower I got her a diaper bag and stuffed it full of products.  I used one Ipsy bag that didn't scream 'Hey I'm a Makeup Bag!' and used it to organize some of the smaller stuff, like nail clippers.  It was perfect and she still uses it to organize her diaper bag.

I have been getting Ipsy for a long time, and that means a lot of little make up bags.  Since I have them, instead of them taking up space and gathering dust in my drawer, I try to find uses for them. Do you have an clever uses for them?  Let me know! I'd love to hear your ideas

Now on to the other products... Now I have to admit, there are more products in this bag that I haven't gotten to try than there are ones I have... I will have to do an update blog later when I finally get the chance to use them.

Balanced Guru - Style Me Hair Oil

What Ipsy says:

Style Me Hair Oil is a USDA Certified Organic lightweight formula that controls frizz, curls, and flyaways. The non-oily consistency can be used on all hair types.

Can be used alone or as a foundation for the layering of other styling products.

Sample size: 0.5 oz

What the website says:

Benefits: Even your scalp needs a break from time to time so give your tired roots the rest they need with this detoxifying scalp treatment. An astringent blend of Oregano, Tea Tree Oil and Rosemary essential oils begin the detox process, while algae, sea kelp and brahmi bring rejuvenation back to your roots. For best results, give your hair a break from styling products as well.

Essentials: Sea Kelp, Algae, Oregano Essential Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Rosemary Essential Oil, Brahmi extract.

Ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice*, Alcohol Denat*, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract*, Aqua (Water), Cymbopogan Flexuosus (Lemongrass) Oil*, Ascophyllum Nodosum (Kelp) Extract*, Spirulina Platensis (Spirulina) Extract*, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil*, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Oil*, Bacopa Monnieri (Brahmi) Powder*, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Oil*, Origanum Vulgare (Oregano) Oil*.

* Certified Organic Ingredients.

I haven’t tried this product out yet, but I am excited to do so.  I have been suffering from some skin issues on my scalp and let me tell you it hasn’t been fun.  Not to gross you out but essentially it is dry and itchy skin.  I’m hoping that I can add this product to what I’m already using to treat the issue. 

Full size is $23.00 for 1 fl oz

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Lip Pencil + BONUS Revolution High-Color Lip-gloss

What Ipsy says:

Get primed and ready for action. Urban Decay's long-lasting, waterproof liner glides on smoothly to prime AND define—for long-lasting lip color and clean lines. Smooch. Pout. Smack. Nibble. Lick. 24/7 stays put through everything (yes, EVERYTHING) you do. When you use this liner to fill in your lips completely, it primes them for lipstick or gloss, grabbing on to color to help it last.

Next, finish the bad girl beautiful look with a sample of Urban Decay's brand new Revolution High-Color Lipgloss—insanely intense color with high shine. The high-coverage, ultra-pigmented formula lays down all the color you crave in one coat.

This lippie is also laced with Hilurlip™, which defines and hydrates lips while making them look plumper and fuller.

Sample size: 0.8 g

What Urban Decay’s website says:

Products Description: Prevent your most embarrassing beauty nightmares with our Ultimate Ozone Multipurpose Primer Pencil—the double-stick tape of the beauty world. This clear, THICK-barreled undercover wonder does it all. Hold lip color in place. Prevent feathering. Correct mistakes. Even fill in fine lines!

Inspired by our bestselling, slim-barreled Ozone 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil, Ultimate Ozone is an indispensable primer in pencil form. And its thick size makes it easy to get the job done in one quick swipe. No matter how you use Ultimate Ozone Pencil, our creamy, long-lasting formula glides on clear to save you from those dreaded (yet common) beauty disasters.

As if ALL that wasn’t enough, our moisturizing formula never feels dry or cakey. Jojoba oil nourishes the skin and ensures a smooth application.

The thick barrel of Ultimate Ozone Pencil makes it easy to spot in your bag. When the tip starts to get dull, just grind it back to a perfect point with our Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener.

Full size product $16.00 for 2.8 g

I haven't tried out this product.. but who wouldn't be interested in a product that moisturizes and promises to help the application and wear of your lip color?!

Chella - Eyebrow Color Pencil

What Ipsy says:

The fine tip on this sleek European-designed mechanical pencil has a creamy consistency that glides into place and can also be lightly smudged for a more natural look. Perfect for any color brow, especially blondes and greys.

ipsters who sample this Eyebrow Color Pencil will receive the shade Tantalizing Taupe.

Sample size: 0.09 g

What Chella’s website says:

The fine tip on this sleek European-designed mechanical pencil has a creamy consistency that glides into place and can also be lightly smudged for a more natural look (use the brush/comb attachment on Chella's razor, sold separately, to achieve this effect).

Eyebrow Pencils are also available in our Eyebrow Color Kits, along with our Eyebrow Defining Gel, Highlighter Pencil and Dual Size Pencil Sharpener.

Full size product: $18.00

Now, this is a product I have tried.  Shocker I know… that isn’t the trend with this blog.  I have tried this and I love it.  I was really surprised when I tested this out and it was a good match for  me.  My eyebrows are my weakness.  They aren’t out of control and don’t require that much grooming. I do have some sparce areas that I try to fill in, but I do so very infrequently.  I am afraid of being that person with the crazy drawn on eye brows.  Since it isn’t a technique I am very good at, but I am trying.  I will say I am impressed with this product.  I will do a review soon!  Also, keep a look out for a look of the day where I use this product!

NUXE - Rêve de Miel® Facial Cleansing and Make-Up Removing Gel

What Ipsy says:

This Face Cleansing & Make-Up Removing Gel with Honey is a gentle, soap-free gel that removes make-up, cleanses and soothes the skin with honey and sunflower. For dry and sensitive skin.

Use in the morning and/or evening on damp skin avoiding the eyes. Lather and rinse with clean water.

Paraben-free. 94% of ingredients are from natural origin.

Sample size: 15 ml

What NUXE’s website says:

Cleansing and Make-up removing Gel – Soothes and softens. For dry and sensitive skin

This gentle, soap-free make-up remover and cleanser with Honey and Sunflower cleanses, soothes and removes make-up in one go - whilst being kind to your skin.

Delights the senses and cleanses skin.

Full size product: $19.00 for 6.7 fl oz

Jesse's Girl - Pure Pigment Eye Dust

What Ipsy says:

These pure pigment eye dusts can be used alone as loose eye shadow, or over your Eyeshadow Primer for an all-day, crease-free look. Each container includes a sifter insert.

ipsters who sample Jesse's Girl will receive the shade Brown Sugar (matte brown).

Sample size: 1.8 g

What Jesse’s Girl’s website says:

Description: Our pure pigment eye dusts can be used alone as loose eye shadow, or over our Eyeshadow Primer for an all-day, crease-free look. Each container includes a sifter insert.

Full size: 2.5 grams for $4.99

Now, I haven’t tried this product other than to swatch it… but, I have to say when I first opened it and was playing with it, I was surprised when I saw it was an eyeshadow.  I honestly thought it was a small sample size of a loose bronzing powder.  The color looks to me like a beautiful warm bronzing color.

Total value of the bag:

Balanced Guru - Style Me Hair Oil (Link)- $11.50

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Lip Pencil (Link) - $4.57

Chella - Eyebrow Color Pencil (Link) - $18.00

NUXE - Rêve de Miel® Facial Cleansing and Make-Up Removing Gel (Link) - $1.50

Jesse's Girl - Pure Pigment Eye Dust (Link) - $3.60

Total: $39.17

This is probably the lowest total value bag I have and also the one that I am less excited about.  I am very excited about finding an eyebrow pencil that works and the hair treatment, but usually I am more excited about more products... However, the great thing, there is always another sample bag on the way!!

Until next time, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

xoxo,

Mikal-Anne