Homemade ravioli is amazing but if you don’t have a pasta roller, or attachment for a stand mixer it’s nearly impossible to get the dough thin enough for a ravioli that isn’t gummy and thick. So, here’s my cheat!
16oz ricotta cheese
1/2c – 1c Parmesan cheese
1/2c -1c mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1/2lb cooked spicy sausage
salt/pepper
pre made, store bought, refrigerated won ton wrappers
Combine ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, egg, sausage, salt/pepper together in a bowl. Lay out a won ton wrapper and spoon about a tablespoon of the filling into the middle of the won ton wrapper. Dip your finger in water and trace around the outside of the won ton to help seal edges and then either fold corner to corner for a triangle ravioli, take a separate won ton wrapper and cover filling for a large square ravioli or use a cookie cutter to have a shaped pasta. Once you have your desired amount of raviolis cook them in boiling water according to won ton package directions. Usually 3-5 minutes. They cook fast because they are a fresh pasta dough so keep an eye on them!
Once they are done, drain them and top with any sauce you like or what I did is layer the raviolis between homemade red sauce, like a lasagna, topped with cheese and bread crumbs and baked for 10-15 minutes at 400. Enjoy your cheater “homemade” ravioli bake!
I couldn’t be more in love with these gorgeous, metallic, ankle boots! Khrió is an Italian shoe company that uses high quality materials and techniques to make a shoe that will fit to the natural form of your foot and look amazing. Don’t worry, you don’t have to go all the way to Italy to get these and you don’t have to convert your US dollars into Euros for a new pair of kicks. Nora’s shoe shop is a boutique shoe destination in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and Oak Park! This is a small business with a high end service. Those lucky enough, like myself, to actually know the “Nora” behind Nora’s shoes will be able to appreciate the time and effort and passion she puts into her business. Her style and love for providing women with gorgeous accessories is 100% reflected in her two locations. Nora hand picks every shoe that she sells, she gets shoes from Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Portugal.etc. There are shoes for every style, every size, every look. As an adult now, I have to start my higher quality shoe collection. While I love my Target shoes and Old Navy flip flops, a girl has to step up her look from head to toe if she wants to be taken seriously. On a college budget, Nora’s is dangerous for the sake of your next meal but you have to start somewhere. I’ll pinch every penny, dime, quarter and miss a lunch for a pair of shoes from here. For the stay at home mom, or working woman, you won’t be phased by the price tag. These are shoes that will last a lifetime. These are shoes that only get better with time and wear and when the soles give up, these are shoes worth taking to the shoe repair and loving back to life.
I can confidently say that if I had to eat one type of food for the rest of my life, I would live off Mexican food. More specifically, I would eat Mexican food from El Taco Grande until I die.
This is by far my favorite restaurant, ever. My family has been going here for over 10 years and it got 100x better the day I could order margaritas! El Taco Grande is a hole in the wall place, but you can’t get more authentic. They have the hand carved wooden scenery chairs, the handpainted walls, the Mexican music that makes you dance and it’s owned by the best family imaginable. Everything about this place makes you feel like you’re at home.
The hubby and I make this a weekly date, I go more often in the summer with my mom or girlfriends because nothing is better than sitting outside on the patio with a frozen margarita! Needless to say, when we walk in we no longer get menus, we no longer place orders, they see us coming and it’s an unspoken exchange. Our favorite of the brothers who works there knows all our orders by heart and it’s not even a question if we want a margarita! They start you off with homemade salsa and homemade chips. I’m known for eating the whole basket of chips and salsa every time… I can’t help it. I always get the chicken taco with avocado and a side of rice ( I could eat a 50 gallon bucket of their rice), my mom copies me and the hubby gets flautas. My dad is the only one who changes it up, he orders the burritos most often and when I say they are the size of a newborn baby, they are! Not only are the margaritas always amazing and everything is made fresh and feels like dinner at your Mexican grandma’s but since the first time I ever went there, and to this day, it always, ALWAYS tastes the same.I have never been disappointed in an El Taco meal. I leave full, a little (a lot) buzzed and satisfied. I’m not getting paid to say any of this, I go there and I love it so much because it’s authentic. By definition authentic means genuine, of undisputed origin, made/done in tradition or in a faithful way that resembles the original. It’s more than the food when you go to El Taco Grade, it’s a family owned business and they treat you like family. They know your name, they know your order, they keep up with your daily life and it’s my pleasure to support a business like that. I can’t say enough good things without sounding obsessed but when something is so good and real it’s hard to not be passionate about it.
So, if you’re ever in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and you’re hungry and like a strong marg, go to El Taco, you won’t leave disappointed.
The older I get, the more open minded I am to things I would have never given s second thought. One of those things being consignment store shopping.
I guess it’s not really “shopping” for me because…. I work at one. I get first pick of new items that come in and you would be surprised at the things people just get rid of! In particular, brand new items!
My outfit today was entirely planned around my consignment store find, my BRAND NEW Minnetonka moccasins! They go with everything and are beyond comfortable. I paired them with my dark wash skinny jeans, a neutral color, tribal print top, a perforated, light weight, cream zip up and of course, my new white turban I made last weekend.
White minnetonkas
You never know what you might find at a consignment store….
I couldn’t be more pleased with how this baby gift has turned out! Almost everything I made is a first try and close to flawless (it’s handmade so there are bound to be some imperfections) ! A dear friend I have met through my current job has been given the gift of adopting a sweet baby girl through incredible circumstances. It’s not my place to tell their story but I can’t wait to meet sweet Rosie! It takes a strong family to adopt a newborn and I give them all my respect and I hope my little contribution of handmade baby gifts will begin to show that. I can only imagine how long the road of adoption is and the bumps you encounter and I hope this sweet girl will grow up and realize she was loved and cared for from the very beginning. I have found a huge passion in crocheting baby gifts and people always say “you should sell that.” And I don’t agree, I have an etsy page for some crocheted things but I think baby gifts are different. I want to make these items for people I know and care about and make it more than just a transaction. So, here’s to Miss Rosie, I hope you love your little presents and I can’t wait to meet you!
A simple breakfast with a simple morning drink. French toast made out of sliced sourdough bread, soaked in egg, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Cooked all the way through, topped with pure maple syrup and a mimosa with frozen raspberries. The rain can’t wash out this morning pick me up.
In the last couple years I have taught myself how to crochet. I know it’s not the typical 23 year old’s hobby but it’s more than that.. I love crocheting personal things to give to people. I have made a countless number of scarves that I have given as gifts and donated to the local battered women’s shelter. I have also started to focus on crochet pieces for babies, because a number of close people in my life have welcomed new life into their homes. I feel like in a world where it is so easy to just go out and buy what you want, or order it online, we have lost the thought in gift giving. I give my handmade gifts to people and I can only hope that they realize it took me hours of working with my two hands to make this for them. It may not be perfect, it may have a flaw or not fit just right but I made it with just them in mind. Sure, I could have gone out and bought a beautiful baby blanket but when she gets older she will know that someone took the time to sit and focus on just her for a couple hours for something so simple and to have not even met her yet. It’s more than a ball of yarn tied into countless stitches, it’s work of two hands and a heart. If you aren’t familiar with crochet, it’s not terribly hard to learn but it’s a blessing and a curse of technique. If you mess up it’s easy to simply pull the end and watch your mistake be undone. On the other hand a simple pull of the end and you can watch your work unravel before your eyes. It’s all connected, it’s all one seamless piece of yarn and it can be turned into something so intricate. If you are interested, I do sell items on Etsy, check out my shop!
If you are thinking of cutting your long locks short, do it! Let this be your little sign of fate to cut it off!
I used to be a long hair girl, I loved my top knot, my long hair was my security blanket, I would never wear it up to school, I loved the fishtail braid and then I got an itch to cut it off… I did a big cut once before in my short lifetime and instantly regretted it, I couldn’t wait for it to be long again. I tried everything to make it grow longer, faster, anything. None of that silly stuff works. Time, your hair grows with time, no matter how many biotin vitamins you take, no matter how cold you rinse your hair, brushing it upside down for 20 minutes, it’s all silly. Your hair grows about a half inch each month… I cut off 11 inches the summer before my senior year in highschool (2008) and never cut it again until this past June (2014). I self dyed my hair every color, I trimmed it myself, I spent so much time heat treating it, it was a wreck. My hair was in horrible shape and then I decided, I miss my little nubby pony tail sometimes.. I loved Kristen Wiig’s hair from her role in Bridesmaids, and I loved Rachel Thevenard’s hair from MTV’s Skins, and so, no matter how many times I told myself I would never cut my hair short again, I did it….
Inspiration
This was a hair change that I couldn’t DIY, or more so, I didn’t want to do myself, fuck up and have to shave my head! So I went to the hairstylist who has been cutting my mom’s hair for 20 years.
Sending my hair to Canada. Awkward putting “hair” on the customs form.
My hair was long enough to donate 12″ of it (you need a minimum of 8″) but since it was bleached and dyed and who knows what else I had to find an organization that would take processed hair, and there are some out there (I had to send mine to Canada).
I pulled my hair into my last full length pony tail and -snip, snip, snip- mind you, my hair is the thickness of a horse tail so the hairdresser’s scissors got their workout. Since my hair is so thick I always worry about going short because I don’t want a poofy, mushroom head look and that’s where an experienced hairdresser comes in. I showed her my inspiration and then told her, “do what you want.”
My philosophy about hair is this, -it always grows back-.
Fishtail braid
Pinterest inspired hair do
Before and after
Nubby pony
Dont let something as superficial as hair hold you back from trying something new! So, my hairdresser and I discussed my concern with thickness and styling and decided on layers and thinning everything except the front 3″ of my hair. She left the hair closest to my face and about as far as my ear unlayered so it would lay flatter and be long enough to wave with a curling iron as the look in the pictures I showed her.
All said and done, I don’t miss my long hair, still to this day! My hair cut is perfect for my hair type! Going on vacation was a breeze, washing my hair isn’t a hassle, styling it is a snap, when I even decide to do it because it looks fine air dried! And as far as short hair goes I have many different styles I do with it to change up my look, just as I did with long hair. On top of that it’s so much healthier because it’s more manageable and I don’t have to heat treat it everyday. I can go a week, a week, on one hair wash and touch it up every couple days with dry shampoo and a curl here or there. Tell me if that isn’t convincing enough to cut your hair off right now!
I have gotten compliments on top of compliments about my hair and I don’t know if I could ever go long again…
Hair stylist: Dana
Hair salon: Ginger root in downtown St.Charles, IL.
Tip of the day: use frozen fruit instead of ice cubes to chill your favorite white wine! Keeps it nice and chilly plus when your wine is gone you have drunken fruit to snack on!
Finally, at 23 I think I have figured out how to correctly use makeup. As in not caking it on, orange isn’t a good color on anyone, black is not right for every skin tone and less is more. I don’t ever feel like I NEED makeup, I go out in public right after a shower in sweats, wet hair and a naked face and I think that it’s important to be comfortable to simply be in your own skin. 90% of the time that I put on makeup it consists of one step, mascara, and that’s it, with my fair skin comes very light eyelashes, so I try to make my eyes look as not bald as possible. But sometimes I like to test my limits and have makeup be part of my look for the day. And if, and when I have a daughter, I hope she understands that makeup doesn’t make you beautiful, especially if you don’t use it to enhance your natural beauty. My mom used to always tell me when I would try dark, dark, jet black eyeliner that it didn’t look good. In highschool I took it as a battle with her, as an adult I now see what she could see, I have too fair of skin for the “blackest black” of anything, and on top of that when you cover half your eyelid with eyeliner you look like you have black holes to your brain. Also, I don’t use any kind of foundation, concealer or anything except to cover up, and only cover up, a rare blemish. How can you cuddle up with someone or try on clothes and not be having a panic attack that your face is going to rub off with all that stuff covering your natural beautiful skin!?!? Hello, people, why does your mother or friend or someone not tell you that we can all tell that isn’t your skin… It does not look good, at least it doesn’t look good in my opinion…
I thought today’s makeup and accessory (my turban ) were a great pick me up for chilly Midwest weather.
I am by no means a makeup guru but if you’re curious here’s how I did my look today.
1.Face: Jergens, or my beloved Target brand; medium-dark skin tone self tanning lotion. ( I have a fair skinned complex but I like to use the darker lotion formula because it doesn’t take as long to notice and gives a more golden color.)
2.Blush: E.L.F pressed mineral blush (Wanderlust)
3.Eyes: E.L.F eyelid primer ( this was a new product to me a while ago and it’s amazing. It makes any shadow last longer, as in all day and gives a nice neutral base for a stronger pigmented look.)
4.Eyes: inner lid; Maybelline The Nudes ( third shadow from the left on the top row.)
5.Eyes: outer lid; Aveda (Aquamarine)
6.Eyes: mascara
7.Finished my look with my handmade, crochet turban (https://www.etsy.com/shop/HarlowAndTwist) and that’s it!
Harlow&Twist 