Easy And Delicious Healthy Omelet

Good Morning!

Today I am so excited to show you a super energizing breakfast. This dish is easy to prepare and packs in a ton of healthy elements.

The finished meal has 271 Calories, 9 carbs, 14g fat, and a whopping 32g of protein! This dish is sure to keep you full.

Garlic & Onion Flax Seed Omelet

 

I promise if you enjoy warm comfort food this is right up there. My husband is no fan for eggs, and he was pleasantly surprised. So take a go at it. Change the spices around and see what is good for you. I am a serious garlic lover so I do go heavy on my seasonings. :)

Prep your pan with extra virgin olive oil and heat it nice and hot on medium. I use about a tablespoon. I like to do this so the pan is ready to go when I have all my food prepped.

You will start with 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg.

 

 

If you are a beginner with flax I suggest starting with a ½ tablespoon. This will add a delightful flavor to your eggs so don't be afraid. It will also not have any weird gritty texture. I buy bulk flax seeds and grind them in my coffee grinder. Add as much flax as you like, but I go with 2 tablespoons.

I love the depth and color it adds to the eggs. Did you know that 2 tablespoons of ground flax will add 4 grams of fiber to your diet? That is nearly a quarter of your recommended daily value of 20 to 30 grams!

You will also add in a teaspoon or more or garlic powder and a teaspoon or more of onion powder. Mix well. Your pan should be ready to add your eggs. Having your pan on medium or slightly higher will heat your oil nicely. It is important having the pan hot enough or your eggs will just run everywhere. When the pan is hot they will stay together and keep your omelet in a nice round shape.

This dish cooks nice and quick. Your omelet should be ready to flip within a couple minutes.

I watch the edges as a guide. Once it looks nice and fluffy with a slightly undone center your ready to flip.

It will have a nice golden brown color. At this point you can turn your pan down and prep your cheese. I like to use 2 slices of 2% American cheese. It will turn out nice a gooey. Place your cheese on one half. Once your cheese or filling of choice is in flip the other side on top. Your Done!!!

Time to indulge! Being healthy is not so bad :)

Enjoy!

Easy Built In / Recessed Shelving With Board & Batten **Part 2** Reveal!!!

Ok, tonight I will be showing you how to complete your beautiful recessed shelving with faux board and batten. Now that your shelf and top rail are secured, the rest should be easy peasy. You will want to measure the wall that you will be applying your boards to, and figure out the spacing that you prefer. We spaced our boards 14 ½ inches apart.

Figure out your height measurements to make your cuts. After cutting the boards to length you can decided if you want to angle cut the ends that will be butted to your base trim. If you do not have a miter box I do not suggest doing this step.

This step is simply to help ease the transition into the base board.

When attaching the boards to the wall we used a combined method of the wood glue and the 2 inch finish nails. Trying to hit studs if possible.

Continue on down the wall installing your boards :) That is it for this part. I told you, it wouldn't be that bad.

A couple finishing steps and you will be ready to paint before you know it. Take your painters caulk and seal around every edge. Fill your holes and any other defects you might see. Let dry and sand off the excess.

WaaaaLA! Your done! Go ahead, and do your happy dance.

Get your painting gear because it is time to add some color. I did mine is a semi - gloss white paint. I primed the entire area twice and painted once. The entire project turned out divine. I l.o.v.e it so much!!! Thank you to my darling husband.

Go ahead give it a try. It is totally worth it and what it does for your space. I cannot wait to get it decorated!

Check back to see what ideas I come up with to spice up this extra space.

Until next time...

Easy Built In / Recessed Shelving With Board & Batten **Part 1**

Hi Everyone!!

I hope you all are having a great weekend so far. We did indeed got some snow, but not nearly what they expected. Our bathroom is almost finished with the project I have been working hard to keep from you. Today I am going to show you the first half!! WOOTWOOT! This has become a project that has taken longer then expected. Mostly because I haven't gotten my rear in there for the final coat of paint. I am going to show you what all we did so you can do it in your home too!

We have been working on.... drum roll please.... In wall shelves with faux board and batten. I am SO EXCITED! I have been wanting to add this to my bathroom from day 1. Our bathroom is vary small and lacks counter space. I love decorating and I wanted a nice place to embellish for the seasons.

This plan is for 2x4 stud walls. If you have 2x6 stud walls you will want to use 1x6x12 boards for your shelf depth.

Materials Used:

1x4x12 for the board and batten as well as the trim around the shelves.

¼ Hardwood Plywood (your choice of wood)

Wood Glue

Painters Caulk

Primer& Paint

Sandpaper

2 inch Finish Nails

Tools Used:

Miter Saw

Table Saw

Finish Nailer

Air Compressor

Caulk/Glue Gun

Tape Measure

4 ft. Level

Paint Roller

Paint Brush

Drywall Knife

The first thing you will want to do is measure out in your bathroom where you want the shelves in consideration of the studs (because your boxes will be set between the existing studs). Make sure you also take into consideration of wiring that may be running in the wall. Check the room your working in and the room on the other side for outlets. If you do have outets on either side there will be wiring, but you should be able to adjust your measurments and tuck it in.

Once that is completed mark the height of where you are wanting your shelving. Now is time to grab your level and make sure your lines are running level. Once everything looks good and measures up go ahead and get to cutting those holes out for your boxes you will be building.

I tried to get pictures of this, but my camera battery was dead :(

Once your holes are cut for your shelving you will want to measure and draw up a cutting plan.

Measure the height, width, and depth of your holes. Measure the depth to the stud and the depth to the drywall. This only needs to be done on one inner stud of where your shelving will be. You are taking these two measurements because your interior side boards are going to be recessed compared to the exterior boards when finish. This will give you more of a custom finished look. The depth should be the same on the rest of the holes. Your bottom boards will be the same depth as your interior side boards. These measurements will be the same so you have a slight surface to attach your ledge.

I recommend measuring all of your widths as some stud spacing could be off. When you are drawing up your plan, take off the thickness of the boards. You can do this on either your side boards or top board measurements. If you do not do this step your box will be to big.

Follow your cutting plan and lay out your boxes somewhere where they can be constructed. Use your table saw to cut the 1x4 boards to the correct depth for the walls.

Once your boards are ripped to the correct depth, you will follow your cutting plan to cut your pieces for each box. If you do not have a miter box, other types of saws can be used. You do want to achieve the straightest most accurate cut.

Lay out each piece before construction.

We lightly sanded the cut edges before assembly, although you can skip this if you wish. Anytime using a pneumatic nailer make sure to oil before using. Go ahead and nail those babies together!

Now that you have your boxes together take them in and CAREFULLY make sure they fit into your holes. If you drop those bad boys into your wall they are gone forever :) or at least cause a lot of unecessary work.

Hopefully all will turn out well and you can move onto cutting your backers. This is where your plywood comes in. Simply measure your boxes and shorten them a 1/8 inch on each side. This will guarantee a nice fit with no excess.

You will also attach your backers will your nailer. Do this carefully and try not to shoot your nails through the inside of the box. If it does happen carefully rip the nails out and it can be filled once installed.

Your almost there! Once all the measurements and cutting is done I have to say it does come together pretty quickly. Now we are going to install the boxes into your wall. This is pretty easy.

Put the boxes in until they are flush with where are they suppose to be. Nail them into the studs. We used the same finish nailer for this as well.

After all your boxes are in place you will be installing your ledge. Once again we will simply nail it into place. I am going to explain a technique called toe nailing. This is when you angle your nail to attach it the anchoring pieces. We nailed into the stud as well as the boxes. Nail from the bottom and the top your shelf.

Underneath your shelf we will add the top rail to our board and batten. This will be attached by glue and nailing to the studs. Once you have this up and secure, reinforce your ledge by nailing through from the top, to secure it into your top rail.

Grab your tape measure because you will be measuring for your shelf trim. Start with the interior studs. Measure from the bottom to the exact height of where you want your top trim piece to start. Cut accordingly. Install by nailing into place.

Finish up your trim by taking proper measurements of the side pieces. Install those and continue with taking a simple measurement for your top trim piece. Install.

Well, that's it for today folks.

Check back tomorrow to see how to finish this project by adding the beautiful faux board and batten. It is amazing how much this will add to your space!!!!

See you tomorrow :)

How To De-Fruit A Grapefruit

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

With the new year here like many others I have committed to losing weight. I have actually discovered a new found love that is making weight loss easier then ever. Grapefruit! That last time I had tried grapefruit was about 12 years ago. It was so bitter I could not enjoy it. Well I decided to try it again due to it health benefits and link with weight loss.

The first attempt to eating a grapefruit was awful. I had no idea how to eat it and it was very annoying and deterring trying to DE-fruit it. Well shortly after I figured it out. I also pair my grapefruit with Raw Stevia which is a zero calorie sweetener and I am now IN LOVE!!! I love this fruit so much I eat 2 a day. It is so succulent and satisfying.

Today I am going to show you my way of De-fruiting a Grapefruit.

Start by washing and cutting your grapefruit in half.

Gently pop out any visible seeds.

Take your knife and slice all the way around the edge of the fruit. This will separate the juicy center from the outer skin.

You will notice a thin skin separating each wedge of the fruit. Gently but firmly pierce your spoon between the fruit and the skin. This will take practice but I PROMISE you will get the hang of it the more you do it.

With a slight rotation of your wrist you will easily be able to pop the fruit wedge right out!

Continue on around the fruit.

Squeeze the remaining juice from your fruit and top with a sweetener of your choice. Your done! Enjoy this delicious fruit full of health benefits!

Until next time my friends! Enjoy.

Chemical Free Grout Cleaning - DIY

Do you have tile floors? If you do, I'm sure you will love this!

My husband and I purchased our first home almost one year ago. This home was a diamond in the rough. The previous owners neglected it in many ways. By our first impression we swore it had never been cleaned. I knew I had my job cut out for me. Our bathroom was once updated and is actually one of my favorite parts of the house. We have an amazing jetted soaking tub with many sprayers in the shower. The floors however, not so pretty. I actually was very fond of the tile, but the grout gagged me. I hate using smelly chemicals like Bleach or Iron Out. I do not like my family breathing in the harsh vapors. Our bathroom is an interior room, and has very little ventilation. I was on a mission to find a natural way to clean that disgusting grout. Upon trial and error this is what I found.

I tried out a couple formulas and both of them had excellent results!

Take 1 – Baking Soda & Peroxide

Put a nice amount of baking soda into the grout lines that you will be working on.

Pour peroxide onto the grout lines filled with the baking soda.

Let the mixture of Baking Soda and Peroxide sit 10 – 15 minutes for best results. Other wise continue with next step.

Grab a cleaning scrubber or toothbrush and scrub the grout lines that have been sitting in the soda/peroxide mixture.

Be amazed!

At this time your built up dirt and grime should be dissolved and coming right out!

Make sure to rinse the floor clean after completing.

Take 2 – Baking Soda & Vinegar

Once again no specific measurements were used in this mixture.

First you will once again put a nice amount of Baking Soda into the grout lines you will be cleaning.

Pour White Vinegar onto the grout lines filled with the Baking Soda. It will become nice and bubbly.

Let the mixture of Baking Soda and White Vinegar sit 10 – 15 minutes for best results. Other wise continue with next step.

Grab a cleaning scrubber or toothbrush and scrub the grout lines that have been sitting in the soda/vinegar mixture.

At this time your built up dirt and grime should be dissolved and coming right out!

Make sure to rinse the floor clean after completing.

I did use both of these cleaning methods and I was very happy. There were no harsh smells and I knew I wasn't using any crazy chemicals that are in most heavy grout cleaning products. I found that the results were very similar of which I could not tell a difference in which technique was used.

Happy Cleaning Everyone!

Fish In A Bag - Soap

One more busy school morning until the weekend, and then busy weekend mornings =)

Today I worked on some prizes for my kids combined birthday party. This year we are having a combined birthday for the two. The agreeable theme was Spongebob Squarepants. I am really excited at all the little things I have planned. Even more to see everything together and get to show all of you!

My children can hardly handle themselves with all the odds and ends coming together. They want to get into everything, but I can't blame them.

Here is a tutorial on the fish in a bag soap. These will be with other items for the children to choose from when winning a game.

The materials needed are:

Baggies – whatever you prefer

Clear Glycerin – I used a 2 pound block and got three soap bags to my liking.

Plastic Fish – I bought mine from Oriental Trading

Rubbing Alcohol

Small Spritzing Bottle

Cups – To steady the bag *optional

Funnel - *optional

To start you need to gather all your materials. Chop up your Glycerin block into squares.

To melt the glycerin I decided to go with a large glass measuring cup. Place the Glycerin into the microwave and heat until completely liquified.

Grab your bag and open. Seperate the sides of the bag as much as possible. You want to avoid pouring the soap down the sides of the bag, because when it hardens you will be able to see where the soap has touched. This is when you may want to use a funnel, but my 6 year old was more then happy to help!

Gently pour in about a ½ inch of soap. If there are any bubbles use your spritzing bottle filled with rubbing alcohol. When you spray the alcohol onto the glycerin it will do magic (making the bubbles go away.) 

Prop cups around your bag to help stabilize it. The glycerin will cool and develop a sort of “skin.” Once this begins to happen you will want to place your fish.

In this picture, I am aware that this is more than a 1/2 inch of glycerin. I did this and learned very quickly it works a lot better when you start will a smaller amount. =)

Once the soap has cooled most of the way, completely re-heat the glycerin. You will then top off your bag to the level of your liking.

Wa La! Your Done!

Now I found trying to“prop" the filled bag with the cups was really hard to do because... your filling over top of the hardened first layer. Propping it with the liquid on top creates a weird shape that ends up draping down over the solid base. Sooooo... I decided to tie the bag right after filling them. Trapping the air inside kept it at the natural looking shape that I was going for. Thus, I had to cut all the strings off after they hardened, because of the condensation, LoL...DUHHH. All in all my suggestion would be to do that, but have rubber bands to tie the bags off so you can easily let the condensation out after they have set completely.

Enjoy!