Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Nanny Shenanigans, a Confession and An Attempt at Dude Food

The weather this summer has been unusually hot.  While I love warm weather and hate the snow, when it’s been in the 90’s and the humidity is high, taking the kids outside can be rough.  Since nannying, I’ve definitely learned to appreciate my parents and all young mothers out there.  Juggling two toddlers close in age can be a lot of work but overall it’s more fun than work.  
The other day we found a happy medium; warm enough to go outside but not so hot that the kids would get burnt out.  Because I had seen the recipe on Pinterest and all over the blogging world, I decided to make Shaving Cream Paint with the kids. 
nanny paint

nanny paint set up
The big kid (4) really enjoyed the paint and went to town.  Yet, the little nugget (2) struggled with the paint because he doesn’t really enjoy getting dirty (weird, I know).  Over all the paint was fun and it was something different for them to do.
So because I’m a student I’ve had to learn how to live on a student’s income.  Prior to being a nanny, I had a full-time salaried, benefits job.  Because I’m living on less, I’m no longer able to indulge in the little extras.  In my case this means fewer:  overpriced espresso drinks, Sephora ventures for no reason and occasional impulse shoe-buying. 
While Urban Decay, Benefit, Lorac and MAC are some of my favorite makeup brands, I’ve recently become addicted to finding YouTube gurus who focus on drugstore makeup brands (ahem, because of the reasons listed above).  Here is a quick video from one of my favorite makeup gurus…
She’s just one of the hundreds I subscribe to
Here’s an idea of the makeup situation that is going on in my bathroom…
makeup-001
Confession… I have a bit of a makeup vice and I’m sure there are other ladies out there in much deeper than I am but whenever I run out of a product or buy something new Adam says, “You mean there is other makeup in the world than what’s in that drawer?”
In case you’re wondering here is a list of my favorite products:
-Benefit Hoola Bronzer-matte bronzer, no sparkles
-L’oreal True Match liquid foundation
-Urban Decay’s Naked Palette-this is a cult favorite for many reasons.  It’s a nice neutral palette and the colors can be used for everyday or an evening out. 
-MAC Fix+ makeup setting spray
-ELF Studio Blush in Candid Coral $3---> I ran out of my NARS Orgasm Blush and this is a pretty good dupe thus far…
-Garnier BB Cream great for summer, super light-weight
-The Body Shop body butters in Satsuma scent, it smells like vacation
-Jessica Simpson’s Fancy Love fragrance, a secret I tried to keep because it smells amazing.  It’s a light, fresh scent.  If you like:  Victoria’s Secret Halo, Burberry Brit, or Lucky or Philosophy’s Amazing Grace it would be one to try. 
PROBLEM:  My skinny boyfriend.
Living with a boyfriend requires adjusting in a variety of ways.  However, like many of my friends or other girls out there, living with a skinny boyfriend can be rough.
While we all slip up from time to time, I try to make a valid effort to eat healthy and to cook decent meals during the week.  If it were up to Adam we’d be eating fast food, hot pockets or frozen pizzas.  (However he does cook from time to time when he’s able, his job has weird hours, so I’m always home first)
How do you find the middle ground?  There exist a lot of different blogs and Web sites out there that feature great healthy food that is also boyfriend-friendly.  For us, I try to make healthy, subtle substitutions when possible.  ie:  ground turkey in lieu of ground beef, greek yogurt instead of sour cream, egg whites rather than eggs, or brown rice over white rice.
I purchased some reduced fat crescent rolls awhile ago that were sitting in the fridge for quite awhile because I was doing the 17 Day Diet thing…  We both had off the other afternoon so I decided to be creative.
lunch
Cheeseburger Rolls
-1 can reduced fat crescent rolls
-1/4 cup of reduced fat sharp cheddar
-1 laughing cow cheese wedge
-Ground turkey (I used half a package of Jennie O’s lean ground turkey)
-one tablespoon of low-sugar ketchup
-pepper to taste
*Brown the ground turkey and drain any of the grease.  I always season my ground turkey with varied seasonings (but a salt-free seasoning salt would work great).  Next, mix together ground turkey with ketchup and laughing cow cheese wedge. 

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*Please excuse the dirty cookie sheet, sometimes I forget about the nonstick business.
***In retrospect, I wish I had used an egg white wash and rolled the dough into some panko crumbs.  Oh well!
I topped mine off with a plum and some Greek yogurt.  I can’t express how much I missed carbs however I need to make a genuine effort to eat more complex ones.