BBQ Chicken Pizza

 One of my favorite and easy dinners to make is BBQ chicken pizza. I normally make my dough from scratch but some nights when I am in a rush or too lazy to make pizza dough, I buy Trader Joe's Ready to Bake Garlic and Herb Pizza Dough. It's so delicious and with a little bit of flour, I leave it out at room temperature for 20 minutes prior to baking. Here is my recipe for my favorite pizza.

Ingredients:

Chicken breast- cooked, cubed
Cilantro
Gouda, shredded
Pizza Dough
BBQ Sauce
Red Onion, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees - spread pizza dough on pan or pizza rack - add bbq sauce to pizza - add chopped red onion, cilantro, and cubed cooked chicken - bake for 10-12 minutes- add shredded gouda - put back into oven and bake until gouda is completed melted

So easy to make and so delicious! 

Healthy Smoothie Breakdown

This picture shows what I normally add to my smoothie: Greek yogurt, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries,banana, kiwi, strawberries, flax seed, spinach, Good Belly Probiotic in Blueberry/ Acai, splash of orange juice

I normally make my smoothie in the morning but drink it either late morning or mid-afternoon. It's a definite meal substitute. Don't worry if your smoothie looks disgusting- brown or green color- it's super healthy and delicious! 

How to make a healthy smoothie

Add Fruit: 

at least two different types: frozen or fresh
Bananas
Strawberries
berries
pear
peach
kiwi
pineapple
mango

Add Veggies:
spinach
kale
arugula
beet greens

Add a base: (1-2 cups) 
milk: almond, soy, etc.
fruit juice (not artificial)
iced green tea
coconut water

Thicken up:
nut butter
yogurt
coconut meat
chia seeds
oats

Flavor it:
honey
figs
dates
herds: mint, basil
vanilla
nutmeg

Power boost:
protein powder
fish oil
goji berries
flax seed
probiotic

Enjoy! 

Packing for Spring Break

This past weekend, I took my spring break trip to San Diego. I had been following the weather for a few days prior to make sure I packed appropriately. During the days, it is in the 70s, with a cool breeze, and at night it can get chilly. I also knew I would be hiking and kayaking so I need to plan accordingly. S also surprised me with a quick date to a place called "Fields of flowers" in Carlsbad. It was breathtaking and my pictures do not do it justice. I was mesmerized.

My packing list:
Mountain Hardware Fleece Jacket
Bikini- I chose a simple black, string bikini
Hat and J. Crew Sunglasses
Cotton dress
Three basic tshirts- black, white grey
striped long sleeve shirt
two pairs of shorts- black, white
Jeans
Black skinny jeans
dressy sandals, casual sandals
two athletic tank tops
running shorts, or capris
hiking trail shoes (Sierra Trading Co if you ever are in need)
cross body purse
underwear, bras

If you are going to the beach- always pack, a beach bag, sunscreen, leave in conditioner (hello blonde problems), koozie, croakies (had to buy some since I forgot mine), and beach towel

I brought along my Ipad, cell phone, fitbit, and associated charging devices. I had to do a little bit of work on the plane so I could enjoy my weekend with my boyfriend. Head over to my Instagram to see pics from my trip. It was amazing as always.

What he really means.. Decoding breakup lines and excuses

Living with a few hundred men taught me a lot about dating, men, and men’s outlook on relationships. I am pretty good at understanding what they actually mean. However, I will be the supportive friend when my girlfriends have boy problems or are dumped. I won’t say, “Well, he said this and this, those are red flags. It’s over.” That’s not very nice; it’s true, but not nice. So here is a helpful guide on what it really means when guys tell you an excuse to end a relationship or a bullshit line to end things before the relationship began. Enjoy.

The Excuse: “It’s not you, it’s me.” (Or I have a lot of issues I need to work on now)

What it really means:

Such an cliché line. It basically means “It’s you. I am just not going to say that.” It’s a lot easier to let someone down if you put the blame on yourself instead of telling them that you just don’t like them.

The Excuse: “Our lives are going in different directions.” (We are in totally different places in life)

What it really means:

I can't see your future fitting into my future, and I don't want to make the effort to see if we can compromise and make things work..

The Excuse: “You're just so much more mature than me.”

What it really means:

I just want to party, hook up with random people, and not feel any responsibility towards you. At least he is being honest.

The Excuse: “I don't want you to get hurt.”

What it really means:

There might be some truth in this excuse, because if a guy liked you in the first place, he genuinely cares about your feelings, however, sounds like he is planning on hurting you, or he already has.

The Excuse: “I can’t do this anymore.”

What it really means:

This excuse basically works in every possible situation, and it doesn’t mean very much at all. Someone who gives you this line is either too lazy to come up with a legitimate reason or too much of a coward to be honest. What can’t they do anymore? Make an effort?

The Excuse: “I’m not really over my ex, so it’s not fair to you.”

What it really means:

Although he may very well still be hung up on his ex, if he liked you enough, this wouldn’t be a problem. Just call yourself the ‘rebound’ now.

The Excuse: “I'm not ready to be in a relationship.”

What it really means:

He may or may not want to be in a relationship right now… he just would rather be single than be with you

The Excuse: “I’m bringing you down."

What it really means:

Easy excuse, used to convince you that he is a negative influence.

The Line: I am just not ready for a relationship right now, but if I were, you’d be the one.

What it really means:

One person commitment or as Will Ferrell puts it “one vagina for the rest of my life?” If  I was ready for that kind of commitment, you MIGHT be the person.

The Line: I still really care about you.

What it really means:

I care but just not enough to spend time or be with you.

The Line: I’d love to still be friends and hang out after all this.

What it really means:

Can we be friends with benefits? Or is it okay if I hook up with your friends?

The line: It has been so great getting to know you, but I think we need to spend time with other people.

What it really means:

I don’t want to talk or spend any time with you. Just other people.

The line: I am feeling smothered, I just need some space.

What it really means:

You are way too clingy and into my business- way too fast. You need to back off.

The line: I feel like you’re more of a friend than a girlfriend.

What it really means:

My attraction to you is really going downhill. Officially friend-zoned.

The line: I think we got too close too fast.

What it really means:

You are freaking me out with your plans, staying at my place every night, and leaving stuff at my apartment. We are not there yet.

Sephora Haul

Picked up a few items two weeks ago at Sephora. One of my "second moms" works at a Sephora once or twice a month so she can get the discount. Brilliant. I ran into her and she gave me lots of suggestions. Excited to do more shopping with her in the future. 
SEPHORA COLLECTION Triple Action Cleansing Water

        Fleur de force (Youtube beauty guru) raves about this product.  It is supposed to be a "no rinse cleanser for delicate skin." I was excited to try it. It's 'ehh.' Not enough for me to return it to the store but not enough for me to say I love it. I use it really as a makeup remover step and then I cleanse my face. I also only use it at night. It definitely gets off the makeup, etc. but I can't quite accept the 'no rinse' idea. 

Ole Henriksen Truth Serum® Vitamin C Collagen Booster

       Big fan of Vitamin C serums. I am still a huge fan of the Philosophy Vitamin C powder. I use this at night since I use my Philosophy in the morning. I really like the formula and its skin brightening factors.

beautyblender the original beautyblender®

I had a beauty blender a few years ago. It was not the actual beauty blender, I think it was a sephora knockoff. I didn't like it, it held too much water and didn't blend like I thought it would. But years later, I decided to go for the actual blender, to help with cream contour, concealer, and highlighter. I am so glad I did! It has become a staple in my beauty routine. I need to get the little ones for travel! 

Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Peel Original Formula

I don't do face peels. My face is super sensitive and easily irritated. The minute it encounters a product it doesn't like, hello redness. So I was really nervous to try this product despite the rave reviews. However, in the checkout lane of Sephora, I was suckered in. 5 treatments for $16. I bought it. So damn glad I did. They are wonderful! Not irritating, my skin is smoother, and there is less hyper-pigmentation. It is super pricey- but I will be buying the 35 treatments for $88. This became an essential. 

Philosophy- hope in a jar samples- honestly so glad I got the samples. I was not impressed. Neither was my skin. Won't be buying it. I will stick with my Estee Lauder moisturizers.

My All Time Favorite Books

It's taken me awhile to get around to this post. It's been on my to-do list, I promise. But my book collection is split between St. Louis and Columbia, with a few lent out here and there. (If you have read my previous blog posts about books, you know I don't lend out books- but since he's my boyfriend, we will let it slide) Compiling my list of favorite books is tough! I know what my hands down favorite book of all time that I will continue to read until the day I die (dramatic but appropriate) but compiling a list of my favorite books, I narrowed it down to 10.

Favorite book, hands down.

Ransom- Julie Garwood. I am obsessed with all of Julie Garwood's books, I have duplicates of most in my collection. Her writing is flawless and I love her characters. They are very 'me'. So Shadow song, The secret, The Bride, The Prize, The Wedding etc. ugh I could go on and on.. 

Favorites:

The Bride Quartet- Nora Roberts 

Books 1: Vision in White and 3: Savor the Moment, are my favorite. I relate most to Mac and Laurel. I also feel like I am best friends with the four girls. When each book came out, I was the girl pre-ordering and stalking Barnes and Noble at opening hours to get my hands on the next book. Don't judge. 

Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy- Nora Roberts

Sticking with Nora Roberts, I loved this series. I know people complain that Nora Roberts has too many ghost writers and uses formula writing. But her writing makes me happy. I'm not complaining. She gives me the closure I need for each character and the happily ever after crap that I love. 

Something Blue- Emily Giffin

After reading 'Something Borrowed' and hating both Darcy and Rachel, I was unsure of reading the sequel. But 'Something Blue' turns things around and makes me love both characters. Well at least Darcy. I love a good 'she's pregnant and has a happy ending' story. 

Smooth Talking Stranger- Lisa Kleypas

Who doesn't want a billionaire playboy to fall in love with them? Oh and their sister's baby that you are raising? Nothing is sexier than a hot guy holding a baby. I love the dysfunctional story that leads to this love story with lots of kinks and twists and surprising ending! 

Bloom- Kelle Hampton. Just writing the title, I already tear up. This was one of the most difficult books to read yet one of the most magical and inspiring. I felt like I was Kelle in the birth room holding Nella. And since I follow her blog and instagram, I get to see her sweet baby girl flourish and grow into a beautiful person. 

Drake Sisters- Christina Feehan

I grabbed 'Turbulent Seas' with Joley. She is my favorite of the sisters. Just a wild child who is really a lot more perceptive than everyone gives her credit for. She is extremely protective of her family. She is also very mischievous which I why I love her the most. But her chemistry with Ilya, wow. The sparks practically leap from the pages. 

Committed- Elizabeth Gilbert 

I know I wrote a blog post on the book. And my Valentines Day post had a lot of quotes from her book. She just moved me so much with her life story. She really made me look at myself and reevaluate. I think her book allowed me to grow and really made me a better partner in my relationships. 

Love Only Once- Johanna Lindsey. You can't go wrong with any Johanna Lindsey book. Especially the Mallory or Anderson series. But Regina (Reggie) is a favorite. Well Nicholas isn't bad himself. But their story, intertwined with her family, is hysterical yet endearing. 

Childhood favorite books (aka 3rd grade on) 

Chronicles of Narnia series, A Murder for Her Majesty- Beth Hilgartner, obviously Harry Potter 

Back problems

Well I did it! After a few years of being injury free, I hurt my back and dislocated a few ribs. Well technically re-injured. When I was in college, we were required to take physical education classes like archery, racquetball, weightlifting, etc. I took one semester of racquetball and one semester of judo. I was the professor or sensei’s first female student. Again my military college was primarily boys, and for 18 years, no female had ever taken his judo class. I loved the class! However, because all the guys were bigger than me in regards to weight, I had to fight people 15-20 lbs heavier than me. Well one of the moves went wrong and the guy landed on me, hard. Four dislocated ribs and a fractured rib. I was out for a few weeks.
         When you dislocate a rib, a chiropractor is able to reset them into place. It feels like a heart attack when a rib is out from the pressure. What I didn’t know, until last week was that once you dislocate your ribs, it very easily will happen again. Well it did. I had been doing a few new ab workouts that WOW, were showing amazing progress and burned so bad! I was upping my reps from two sets of 25 to three sets of 25. The problem, according to my doctor, was that I was contracting my muscles in the front (chest, abs, etc) and expanding my muscles on my back allowing for slight tears in my muscle tissue. Because I wasn’t strengthening my back, my ribs popped out of place. This happened early last week. My orthopedic/ chiropractor is the also the doctor for the St. Louis Blues hockey team. He’s a busy guy and I got an appointment on Friday. He put my back and my ribs into place. My headache went away immediately from my spine being out of alignment. E-stem and heat, I was sore but felt better. He gave me a few instructions like 2 back work outs for every ab or chest work out, and rest.
         Well I went to work Friday night, tried to pick up a heavy tray and my back pretty much said “nope.” So I took it easy Friday and Saturday night at work. Sunday, I decided to go to the gym for a light workout. My back is still achy but I wanted to see my personal trainer for a few tips and workout ideas. I did a lot of pilates, stretches, and stationary workouts. I made sure to do back exercises to strengthen those muscles. Back workouts are SO BORING. So for the next few weeks, I have to take things easy and be conscious of my posture, my back, and my muscle tension… Oh boy.

Brunch: French Toast

I love breakfast. Since I am cooking for one, I tend to make a lot of easy small meals. But I also tend to eat breakfast for dinner quite a bit. One of my favorite breakfast foods is french toast. Years of practice has helped me tweak the classic recipe that my mom uses for my own favorite style of french toast. I am including my own recipe, 7 mistakes people make when making french toast thanks to Bon Appetit, and a few of my other favorite recipes. 

Rachelle's Classic French Toast
serving size: 4 

• 6 large eggs
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• ¾ cup whole milk
• Pinch of  salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon 
• 6-7 thick slices challah, brioche, or Texas toast 
• 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for serving
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• Pure maple syrup, strawberries, blueberries, etc. or powdered sugar (for serving)
• 
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 250°. Lightly beat eggs, cream, milk, and salt in a large shallow baking dish or bowl. Add a slice of bread, turn to coat, then press down gently on bread until you feel it start to soak up custard mixture. Flip bread and soak on second side, pressing down gently from time to time, until bread is saturated but not soggy.
• Heat 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When foaming subsides, carefully lift slice of bread from custard, letting excess drip back into dish, and cook in skillet until golden brown .. Transfer toast to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in oven while you cook remaining slices of bread with 1 Tbsp. butter and remaining 1 Tbsp. oil.
• Serve French toast with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit, and/or powdered sugar.
• 

7 Most Common French Toast Cooking Mistakes  -Bon Appetit

1. Adding too much dairy and sugar to the custard
Don’t go overboard with the dairy. If there’s too much, the egg in the mixture won’t cook, meaning wet, soggy, bread. You want the French toast to be dry on the surface with slightly crisp edges. As for the sugar, if you’re adding maple syrup, honey, or dusting the toast with powdered sugar on the plate, you don’t need the custard to be too sweet.

2. Not mixing the custard thoroughly
You don’t want pieces of egg white showing up on your perfectly browned slices. Make sure to whisk the custard until the dairy, eggs, and spices (if using) are well combined.

3. Not choosing the right bread
French toast is like bread pudding. It soaks up a custard for a creamy texture on the inside and a slightly crunchy texture on the outside. If the bread is very thin, it will be too flimsy to hold together when dipped in the custard. If it’s too thick, it will never cook to the center. The ideal thickness for a slice of French toast is 3/4″ to 1″ thick. And make sure to pick a kind of bread that’s both spongy and sturdy enough not to fall apart during cooking. Brioche, challah, or a Pullman loaf are all ideal, which is why you’ll see them on brunch menus so often.

4. Under-soaking the bread
Lots of home cooks quickly dip each side of the bread in the custard before throwing it in the pan. The bread has to soak in the egg mixture; you want it to penetrate the bread for a soft, custardy center. This requires some firm yet gentle pressure—and let the bread soak for at least 15-20 minutes.

5. Using too much heat or not enough
French toast is not a steak—you don’t want to scorch the surface. Since there’s sugar in the egg mixture (the custard), it will caramelize and burn quickly. Plus, the inside won’t cook entirely, and you’ll be left with a burnt-yet-soggy piece of French toast. Conversely, if you cook it on too low a temperature, the bread will dry out and you won’t have that nice, soft center that makes French toast so decadent. Cook three to four minutes per side over medium heat.

6. Not preheating the pan
If the pan isn’t hot enough when you put your first slice in, the custard spreads out, forming a “foot” on the bottom of the French toast. When the pan is hot enough, the batter won’t have time to seep; the custard will start cooking as soon as it hits the pan.

7. Only using butter
Give the pan a light coating of neutral oil and butter. This will help prevent the butter from burning. And make sure to wipe out the pan after every batch, then use a fresh combination of neutral oil and butter. Otherwise, the butter will burn and little black bits will stick to the next batch of French toast.

Check out this recipe for overnight french toast casserole. We call this skier's french toast in our family because we normally only make it when we are on ski trips in Aspen! So easy and perfect for cold mornings! 

A few years ago, my mom made a peanut butter stuffed french toast. Two pieces of bread, with peanut butter in the middle, and dipped into the egg-milk custard before being put on the skillet. It was awesome, but too much peanut butter in the middle so if you ever replicate this recipe, make sure you do a thin layer of peanut butter. Also you can use nutella. 

And a recipe I want to try... Vanilla Maple French toast with warm berry preserves..

Spring Nails

I saw this picture (Above) on Pinterest. I loved the color! I am a red nails girl through and through. It's my go-to color no matter what the season. I may alter the shade and go for a more orangey-red in the summer and a darker wine-red in the winter. But red. And then I saw the picture. Wow. I wanted that color. Of course clicking on the picture sent me to tumblr that gave me no insight into who made this gift from God. After a few days and some meticulous- yes meticulous- research. I think I have found the color. I bought two shades, Sally Hansen's Expresso and Essie's Eternal Optimist. Both great colors! Expresso is a little darker more nude/brown undertone. Eternal Optimist is more pink undertone. Both beautiful! 

Eternal Optimist

Expresso 

A few other great spring colors I am loving:

Essie -Raspberry Red

Essie- Lady Like

OPI: Gouda Gouda Two Shoes

Colors that are "in" this season:

Color of the year: Marsala

Moody Greys

Nudes, sandy browns

citrus brights

pink pastels