Budget and Waistline Friendly Freezable Breakfast Sandwiches

 I feel like I'm always short on time in the morning by about 10 minutes. I rarely have time to cook breakfast so have recently been resorting to pre-packaged, microwavable breakfast sandwiches. These sandwiches have kept me full and focused during my busy work day and have pretty great macros now that I'm calorie counting again, but I can't help but think I can make a similar sandwich with better macros and perhaps for a cheaper price.

 Here are the sandwiches I speak of. They are usually about $5.29 all the way up to $5.99 for a box of 4 depending on if you have a coupon or not. That breaks down to $1.32 per sandwich at the cheapest or $1.49 at their highest. I calculated the cost of all the ingredients I used to make my sandwiches and mine are $1.49 each with no coupons used. So these sandwiches are similarly priced, so how bout those macros?

 Above are the nutrition labels for the Special K and the Jimmy Dean sandwiches. The biggest items I wanted to improve upon were protein, fat, and sodium levels. Below is the macronutrient breakdown for my homemade sandwiches:

My made from scratch sandwich is similar calorie-wise but packs in an additional whopping 10g of protein per sandwich! My sandwich also decreased the fat content by a smidgen as well as sugar. The carbs for my sandwich are reasonable. Unfortunately the sodium level is still quite high. I suppose that comes with the territory of a breakfast sandwich!

Here's how I made mine!

Ingredients:
-6 large eggs
-1 and 1/2 C eggwhite
-8 strips Turkey bacon
-8 english muffins
-8 slices of low fat cheese of your choice (I used low fat swiss!)
-seasonings to taste (I used a dash of garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper)

-Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.
-Microwave or pan fry your bacon according to the package instructions
-slice/tear bacon up into bite size pieces
-in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, seasoning, and bacon
-pour your mixture in a heavily greased or pammed baking dish and bake for ~20 minutes. The edges of the egg should start to brown and lift away from the edges. A knife or fork piercing the center should come out clean.

-toast your english muffins
-when egg mixture has cooled to just above room temp, slice it into the amount of pieces you'd like to use per sandwich (I initially divided my eggs up into 8 pieces like in the photo below but immediately realized that was going to be way too big. I ended up cutting each section in half again).

-Assemble your creations! I ended up putting down a square of egg, a 1/2 slice of cheese and repeat to make a little egg and cheese tower. It looks more voluminous and more filling!

-let your sandwiches cool to room temperature before wrapping them in foil or sealing them in ziploc bags to put in the freezer. Make sure to date them. They should keep for about a month in the freezer. 

To reheat:
wrap your frozen sandwich in a paper towel and heat at 30% for 90 seconds. Flip the sandwich over and heat again at 100% power for 1 minute.


These sandwiches are very delicious and hit the spot during a busy morning!

Try them yourself and let me know how they taste!

xxSJ

New Year's Resolutions: How to keep them!

New Year's Resolutions can be a thing of beauty as well as a thing of  contempt. It can be so exciting to daydream about a better you months down the road as long as you can keep your resolutions... why, then, is it so dang hard to keep them? Here are my tips on how to keep your resolutions this year! Because THIS TIME, its gonna be different!

1. Be practical - it is so important to be practical and realistic when setting goals. Make sure to set a reasonable goal for yourself rather than set a goal that seems so unachievable that you're tempted to give up right from the get go.
2. Set mini-goals- Achieving a huge goal is so much easier when its broken down into smaller parts. Check points are amazing ways to make sure you're keeping up with your resolutions as well as giving you a feeling of success from time to time. Celebrate your mini successes along the way instead of just once at the end of hitting your mark! It'll give you the confidence you need to keep going!
3. Set yourself up for success- make sure to have what you need in order to succeed. Whether that be equipment, knowledge, or motivation, you have to have the necessary tools in order to achieve your goals.
4. Hold yourself accountable- make sure that you somehow set up reminders to get it done. This might include telling other people what you're trying to achieve so the thought of them knowing you bailed on your resolutions is motivation enough to complete them. If the idea of letting people in on personal goals makes you feel vulnerable, maybe instead try writing down weekly what you want to achieve regarding your resolutions and make sure to reward yourself upon completion.

Here's how I'm trying to use my tips with my goals this year!

-My first goal is to lose 15 more pounds. I lost 25 pounds during the second half of last year and I want to keep up my weight loss! I'm setting smaller goals for myself (1 pound a week!) and have told some of my friends and sister about my goals. My sister actually joined My Fitness Pal (the awesome calorie counter app I use) so we can keep each other accountable!
-Keeping up with my blog. Blogging is something I really do love and I need to make time for it. I'm trying to post blogs a certain amount per month and I use my planner to write down what posts I want to have published on what days.
-Drink more water. This goal seems kind of easy or silly but I always forget to drink water! To set myself up for success, I bought myself this super cute Camelbak Eddy waterbottle in the coral color so I can bring water everywhere I go.
-Exercise more often. This goal is so cliche, isn't it? To help me achieve this goal, I bought a yoga mat and some hand weights so I have things available in my room to work out with. I also met up with a trainer in my class who helped me create an exercise plan to help me tone it up!
-Stop. Think. Reflect- I tend to get invested in things that when I really stop to think about it, don't effect me at all. I made it a goal this year to stop, think, and reflect when I find myself getting too wrapped up in something that in the long run, really doesn't matter. I told some of my friends about this one so they can stop me if they hear me going off the deep end about something!
-3 As in all 3 semesters- this one is an academic goal that my planner is going to help me the most with! I love the Erin Condren Life Planners because they make it so easy to stay organized. I can write what to study when in them and keep up with my studies in order to get the grades I want. With this goal I tried to be practical. I definitely want at least 3 As all 3 semesters and that's totally achievable... now its just time to surprise myself and see how many As I can get! Get your own life planner to start keeping track of yourself HERE!

What are some of your New Year's Resolutions and how do you plan on keeping them???
xxSJ

How to Wear Mint: Using NARS Habanera Eyeshadow duo

I received this NARS eyeshadow duo in the color 'Habanera' awhile ago as a gift and it has been taunting me from my makeup drawer ever since! With out a doubt this is my prettiest eyeshadow I own... just look at that mint green! And who would have thought that purple would compliment it so beautifully?? Today I decided to go for it and attempt to make a wearable look using the mint green shadow as the focus. 

Here's the result: 

I used a light nude color (MUG Beaches & Cream) and buffed it into my crease up to my brow bone. Then I used MAC's Soft Brown to further deepen the crease area. These two colors work great as transition colors and make blending SO easy.

Then it was time for the mint! I packed that gorgeous color all over my lid up to my crease. I made sure the color was nice and opaque across my lid. Finally I used the purple color in the duo and very carefully tapped that color into my crease. I did this last step slowly adding layer by layer to make sure it didn't get muddy!

Overall I love the way this look turned out! I think this look is multi-seasonal since you can play up the pastels or iciness of the mint or you can deepen it up further with the rich purple.

Color can be scary but there's usually a way to rock it with out being too 'out there.'  Just work with what you've got and be confident!

xxSJ

My Costume is my Face! Black Swan Makeup

For my final installment of 'My Costume is my Face!' I decided to go with the simple and crowd-pleasing Black Swan makeup. And let me tell you... I felt it.

For this makeup look all I used was some gel eyeliner, my NYX jumbo eyeshadow pencil in Milk, and MAC Chili lipstick. Here's how I created this Black Swan look:

First I used the liner to outline the eyes. The line circles right around the bottom of the eye and extends straight outward toward the hairline. The inner line extends out toward the nose. From the nose I drew the line straight up toward the tip of my eyebrow and extended the line above my eyebrow and out toward my hairline. I also colored in all of my eyelid and eyebrows black. Then I took my Milk pencil and colored in the rest of the area.  Then I took my black gel liner again and did small strokes around my eyes all in the outward direction to make the feathery flicks Natalie Portman is sporting in the movie. Going over the white once makes a gray effect and then going over the white again creates a darker near black effect. Mix up how dark your strokes are! Keep the lowest V part mostly white and work hard to feather out the outer edge near the hairline. Then I put on my deep red lipstick and was done!

The one thing I was missing to complete this look was a beautiful crown so I went ahead and drew this one in :) The best thing about this look is that you don't even need the crown to be obvious! This makeup look is so easily identifiable that you can wear all black and put your hair up and everyone who has been awake for the past few years will know who you are. 

Happy Haunting everyone! Just know that when you wear this look...you have to be PERFECT. 

Check out my other posts from this Halloween makeup series!
Split Face
Owl
Shattered Doll
Lion

How-To: Make Your Own Festive Halloween Banner!

Happy Halloween everyone! If you want to spice up your Halloween by adding some festive decorations, here's how you can make your very own Halloween banner!

You will need:

Themed scrapbook paper in 6x6 inch squares

scissors

a gluestick

twine

a hole punch

pencil

optional: an exacto knife

First you're going to want to choose the paper you want your flag to be then cut a diagonal line from the corner of one side to the center of the opposite sides. This will create a little penant shaped triangle. 

Then pick out complementary paper to go on your flag and stencil out the letter you need. I used an exacto knife to cut out the letter to waste the least amount of paper as possible. Scrapbook paper can be expensive!

Next, glue the letter down to the center of your flag! You can also add scraps of other paper to your flag to make it look a bit more patchwork-y and cute!

As you write out your festive sentence, try and alternate the colors you are using to mix things up a bit and make your flags more eye-catching!

When you're all done with your flags its time to hole-punch! I punched two holes at the top of the flags and weaved my long string of twine in and out to ensure the flags would stay flat against my wall. 

And voila! My sign turned out to be about 5 feet long and was hung up in the kitchen for all visitors to see and feel the festive spirit!

Happy Halloween everyone!
xxSJ

My Costume is My Face! Split Face Makeup

Symmetry is beauty, so that means this costume look is beautiful, right??? Well, not according to anyone I showed this to because this creeped people out!! Here's how I pulled off this split face makeup look:

I used my BH cosmetics 88 color palette, a red lipliner, a black liquid liner and my NYX Jumbo eyeshadow pencil. 

First I started by drawing the outline of the split with the red lipliner. I chose to go with this symmetrical cone shape down my whole face. Then I filled in and blended with my fingers. I went over the lipliner with red eyeshadow from my 88 color palette. All the shadows in this palette have shimmer in them which I think works to make this look shiny and wet like blood would look. I also added some purple and black in some areas for dimension. I used my NYX Shadow pencil in Milk to outline the red split lightly to make it stand out for. Then I used my black liquid eyeliner to draw some circles up my the sides of the split, parallel to each other. Then I 'laced' the liner up my face. I added some brown smokiness to my eyemakeup and some red lipstick to glamorize this otherwise creepy look!

Overall I love the way this look turned out. I think it turned out realistic and creepy yet still quite glamorous and pretty looking! From start to finish this look took me about 30 minutes, mostly because doing the lines lacing up my face needed to be done with a steady hand to look nice and neat.

Feel free to use this for an easy costume on Halloween using some simple makeup you might already have in your stash!

xxSJ

Check out my other posts from this Halloween makeup series!
Owl
Shattered Doll
Lion

My Costume is My Face! Feminine Owl Makeup

My next makeup look in my 'My Face Is My Costume' series is this owl look! It took me about 30 minutes to do this realistic yet soft and feminine owl look. Read on to see how I achieved this! 

Above are the products I used! Makeup Geek eyeshadows in Creme Brulee, Beaches & Cream, and Cocoa Bear, my Stila 'Mind' palette, liquid eyeliner, UD eyeliners in 'Smog' and 'Demolition' and my trusty NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in 'Milk.'

First I defined my brows with a dark brown and extended the outer ends straight out toward my hair line and the inner corner down the sides of my nose and then forming the little beak tip in the center. from there I used my Milk eye pencil in Milk to draw the two big circles around my eyes

I used Demolition (a dark brown) eye pencil to outline the white circles using feathering motions. Then I used lighter colored liners to make smaller circles around my eyes to give a feathered effect. Finally I used a liquid eyeliner to extend my liner inter a thick wing as well as extending it inward to a point at my tear duct. I used a brown lipstick for my lipstick.

Overall I really like the way this cute owl look turned out! It took me about 20 minutes to complete all with makeup I had in my stash. No feathers or special effects needed to create an adorable yet feminine look! Hoot Hoot!

Check out my other posts from this Halloween makeup series!
Shattered Doll
Lion

My Costume is My Face!! Simple Lion Makeup

For my second installment of My Costume is My Face, I did a really simple yet effective lion makeup that I'm pretty sure ANYONE has the artistic capacity to do! Here's how you can be the queen of the jungle:

I used a simple black liquid eyeliner, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Smog and Demolition, and Revlon lipstick in 'Champagne on Ice.'

First I darkened and shaped my brows a little more intensely than usual to get that intense cat look. Then I drew on pretty large and dramatic wings for that 'cat-eye' effect. For the adorable little nose, I drew a triangle on the tip of my nose with black eyeliner and then drew a line straight down connecting my nose and upper lip.  I outlined my upper lip to be a little rounder than usual and then filled in with black liner.

For the bronzey lower lip, I lined it with Smog eyeliner (a bronzey gold) and then used Champagne on Ice lipstick to fill in.  For my little whisker freckles, I used Demolition eyeliner (a super dark brown).

I tousled my hair a little bit for a lioness effect and that's it! This look is oh so simple but oh so cute. You can be as fierce of a lion as you want to be while you're wearing this out, or you can be like me and think you're super fierce but really just look like this:

It's all good!

I hope you enjoyed this post and get inspired for the upcoming holiday!

xxSJ

Check out my other posts in this series!

My Face is My Costume!! Shattered Doll Makeup

Last minute halloween plans can be stressful...where are you supposed to pick up a costume you like in the 11th hour when you know everything worth wearing will already be sold out??? That's why I enjoy making my face be my costume by applying some clever makeup! Here is a shattered doll look I did in under an hour over makeup I already had on during the day. 

Here are the products I used:

 First I used a black eyeliner and created a bit of a dramatic winged liner look to round out my eyes a bit. Then I used my NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk and drew a thick line under my lower lash line and then lined under that with my eyeliner to make my eyes look bigger and more doll like. I then drew in a little white reflection mark with my Milk pencil on my lips and then colored my lips in with my Revlon Matte Balm in Unapologetic. I then used my black liner to make ventriloquist lines down the sides of my mouth and then filled in between my lips slightly for a plastic doll like effect.  I popped some super bright blush on my cheeks as well.  For the shattered glass, I pulled up a picture of broken glass on google and just went to town using black liner! It's as simple as that. To amp up this look, I would use some false eyelashes as well!

Happy haunting!
xxSJ

Life on a Budget: How To Clean Your Brushes Using Olive Oil and Dish Soap!

The past couple of months I have discovered a new, budget friendly way to clean my dirty makeup brushes using items the majority of people are sure to have in their home! Using just cool water, olive oil, and dish soap, your makeup brushes can look good as new! Here's how:

In a bowl, put in one part olive oil and two parts dish soap.  The olive oil works great to break down your makeup built up on your brushes and the dish soap cleans the brush.  Get your brushes wet first and then dip them in the olive oil and swirl!

You'll see makeup product immediately start breaking down and coming off your brush! Swirl your brush toward the dish soap and then swirl your brush on the back of your hand which will release even more makeup.  Rinse your brush with cool water (not hot! It can make the glue holding your brush together melt or loosen!), and squeeze your bristles dry. The water coming off your bristles should be clean, otherwise dip your brushes back in the olive oil and soap. 

Set your brushes on a towel to dry overnight and make sure they are at a tilt, bristles side down.  This way water won't settle into the handle and loosen the glue up.  Your brushes should dry in 12 hours time.  If they feel or look oily, it means you need to rinse them once more with soap and water to get the oil off of the bristles.

Now your brushes are good as new! This method is gentle and highly effective which is perfect for prolonging the life of your potentially super expensive brushes. I love easy life hacks like this that just make everything a little easier.

xxSJ