Mozzarella and Avocado Concoction

Here's a quick fix to serve at a party on mini pieces of bread (you can buy them pre-packaged, like bruschetta squares). Chop up tomatoes, guacamole, mozzarella, onions, and season with lime or lemon. So yummy!

Finished product:

Pinterest Fail - Baked Strawberries

I've seen online that a lot of people have been trying things from Pinterest and failing- there's even a website devoted to that very topic! But, alas, my blog is about trying new things, whether or not they fail or succeed.

Well, I spotted Baked Strawberries on Pinterest and was intrigued. The directions say to dry out strawberries in the oven by baking them for 3 hours. I love Twizzlers and candy, and dried fruit is a good option to snack on, so I thought it'd be a good one to try!

The recipe online says to dice the strawberries and then sprinkle salt and pepper over them. I thought that was strange and considered sprinkling sugar on top of the strawberries instead. But, I decided to follow the directions and add salt and pepper.

Well... as you can see in my photo, this didn't totally work. Some strawberries had burnt through before the end of the bake time, so I had to turn off the oven early. Most of the strawberries were painfully stuck to the pan. Some strawberries were still "raw" and wet.. or wet on one half only. And then a few of the strawberries reached the desired end result. I may try this again, but this time I won't dice the strawberries as small as I did this time... I'm thinking larger pieces may help this turn out correctly?

Has anyone else tried the Baked Strawberries from Pinterest? Any personal Pinterest fails to share?

Organized Storage for the Home

I don't like "things" to be visible or disorganized. My last place had a huge closet with tons of shelves that I kept all of my towels, linens, and hygienic products in. I called it my "Walgreens" closet! However, the place I live now has a totally different layout, so I decided to get organized with some baskets.

Finding the right baskets was a total challenge. I went to many stores with my tape measure in hand. I took up many aisles spreading baskets out to see what different combos would work. After searching high and low, I finally found some perfect fits!


Spare room Storage:
Shelf One-
Two baskets for linens and towels (one for each category- linens on left, towels on right). Fun tip: rolling towels instead of folding them saves space!
Shelf Two-
Spare supplies and beauty products (light bulbs, heat pads, extra toothpaste/toothbrushes/deodorant, batteries, lotions)

Bathroom Storage:
4 mini baskets:
 one with all nail-related products
 one with all hair-related products
 one with medicines and first-aid products
 one with random other bathroom products
2 open threaded baskets (you can see one of the very top and one on the bottom hidden inside the cabinet doors):
 one holds spare toilet paper rolls
 one holds and hides unsightly hair ties/accessories/blow-dryer

Other products like spare bars of soap, mouth-wash, q-tips, etc are all stored beneath the sink.

Last Note:
This is not a storage tip, but something fun for the bathroom that I thought I'd add! This window is located inside my shower... and I felt a little funny about being able to see my neighbor's house while showering! I hope they couldn't see me since I'm short and only my head can reach the window- however, I still wanted added privacy. I found this great window sticker online made specifically for situations like this! It was an easy application- basically you cut the sticker to size,  then use water as your adhesive, then scrape out the excess water.. and then it's done! I love it! I love the privacy and also the cute design!

Samosas for Dinner

I love samosas but realized that many people do not know what samosas are! Wikipedia does a great job describing them:  "A Samosa is a fried or baked pastry with a savory filling such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, ground lamb or chicken. The size, shape and consistency may vary, but many versions are triangular. Samosas are often accompanied by chutney. They are a popular appetizer or snack in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, and Africa."

I am the first to admit that I'm not much a chef. Forget making things from scratch- I'm proud of myself when any part of the stove is involved (even if that means just frying something pre-made). But I will say that when I cook, I put a lot of effort and love into it!

Putting together the shells and ingredients for samosas is a little too advanced for my cooking skills, so I just bought them pre-made in the frozen section at an Indian grocery store. If you want to try actually making your own samosas, you might follow this recipe.

To make this dinner:

I first poured oil into a pan and placed the samosas in pan. Once one side became brown, I just flipped them over to brown on the other side. I also cut slices of yellow squash, zucchini, and cucumber and fried them as well. I just added some papprika and pepper to spice them. I then boiled rice and mixed the vegetables in once the rice was done. The papprika mixed into the rice too. I also bought some plain parathas (bread-like; somewhat similar to the more popularly known naan.. but flatter and can be stuffed with the likes of potatoes and other ingredients) and placed them in the toaster. You may notice I did not make a chutney to go with it... maybe next time.

Results:

All in all, this was really yummy. This brand of frozen samosas was so, so, so delicious. I recommend it to anyone! If you've never had samosas before, and you know you enjoy empanadas, then you will like samosas too! If you've never tried either, I encourage you to try something new and let me know what you think.

Samosas Dinner

Lasagna

My man and I made lasagna this past weekend. It was the first time I've made lasagna since I was a little kid! We based it off of Emeril Lagasse's recipe, but sort of just took the portions and then did it our own way.  We stayed true to the ingredients and then just made as many layers as we could fit in the pan.

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh ricotta
• 8 ounces grated Provolone
• 8 ounces grated Mozzarella
• 8 ounces grated Romano
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Meat Sauce
• 1/2 pound grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 package of dried lasagna noodles

Below you can see photos of each step. It's basically all done in layers, so you can see we placed each layer of ingredients placed on top of the last.  We also added the Mozzarella as big chunks that eventually melted.

Cheese and ingredients once mixed together

Meat cooking for sauce

Layering the lasagna pasta pieces

Beef layer

Cheese mixture plus cheese chunks

Another layer

Two more layers

Tomatoes on top!

The lasagna pasta slices were a little too long for our pan, so we just broke off the ends to make the slices fit.  We added slices of tomatoes at the end. I think the end product looked very appealing, no? It was very yummy! What a scrumptious combo this was!

Finished Product - Lasagna!

My first try at lasagna = yummy! The many, many cheeses together were baked so nicely. It only took slightly over 1 hour for the whole process. Try it! It tastes sooo good.

Tri-Color Treat

For lunch, I usually take a sandwich that I make at home. It's so boring! I struggle to come up with ideas for lunch that make sense to pack and bring, but that also taste good. My friend suggested this great idea to me- and it was a success!

Cook a box of Tri-Color Pasta

Mix in:

black olives, each cut twice

lots of mozzerrella, cut into tiny squares

chopped red peppers

chopped cucumbers (very tiny)

vinergarette or Italian salad dressing (I used vinergarette)

Add:

pepper and salt to your liking

After I mixed everything together (I just used my clean hands, rather than any utensil), I separated out the finished batch into little tubberware containers. I stacked the packed containers in my refridgerator. Everything was set for the whole week!

Any other lunch ideas? I still need way more lunch-at-work ideas. I don't want to go back to the sandwich!

Starting Out

Are you obsessed with Pinterest too? I am! Follow my pins at http://pinterest.com/missingthe90s/
I felt inspired to start my own blog by many other females I saw on Pinterest.  I am no expert in nails, fashion, exercise, or cooking- but that's why I'm starting this blog. Just LIKE YOU, I am trying different things out in life. I plan to share some of these here.

I love to google new things that I'm trying so I can see what other females think and experience about the same thing... whether it be a new product, a way to take care of their skin, a random health problem, etc. I enjoy learning about the experience of others with the same things I'm trying!

Maybe its a new nail design I like- so, I'll try it. It may work out, it may not. But that's the beauty of it!

What types of things have you wanted to try? I'll take suggestions from any readers and then give you my own experience with trying it out. It doesn't have to be with nails- it can be in all walks of life. Let's enjoy. :)