Dinner: Easy Pot Roast

I love Fall so much....and I especially love all the smells of this time of year. Pumpkin spice candles, bonfires, soup, you get the idea! Pot Roast is one of my favorite meals when it starts to get chilly outside, not only is it warm and delicious, but the aromas of it fill your whole house...it smells so good and gets me feeling so warm and cozy. :)

 Ingredients:

- 3 to 3 1/2 lb roast
- 2 tbsp oil
- 6 small/medium gold potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
- about 2 1/2 cups of small carrots
- 1 white onion cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 packets of Lipton onion soup mix (1 box contains 2 packets)
- 1 can of Campbell's HEALTHY REQUEST cream of mushroom soup
- 2 cups of water

Directions:

1) Put all veggies (carrots, onions, and potatoes) in bottom of crockpot. 

2) Brown roast in a skillet pan using 2tbs of oil. 

3) Throw roast on top of veggies. 

4) In a bowl, mix together the 2 packets of Lipton onion soup mix, can of cream of mushroom soup, and 2 cups of water. 

5) Pour mixture over and around the roast. 

6) Put lid on crockpot and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 4-6 hours. (I flip my roast over half way through, but you don't have to)

Freebies: Target Sample Spot

Head on over to Target.com to request your FREE samples before they are gone!

FYI: Check Target's "sample spot" daily....its constantly changing. I have received so much cute FREE stuff, ranging from beauty products to makeup bags!!

Bargains: Target haul

Target is my all time favorite place, if I could live there, I would.....I mean, I am sure I pay their rent anyway! ;)

This is my FIRST of many Target hauls you will see because I go there at least a couple times a week! So without further or do, this is some of the stuff I've gotten at Target recently:

Neon shorts with braided belt: Reg $19.99, on clearance for $9.98! These are my FAVORITE shorts, they fit nicely, have a little stretchiness, and they are just so cute. The colors are awesome and each pair comes with a very cute unique braided belt. I was so happy to find these on clearance! They have even more colors so I suggest you get on over to Target and get these before they are gone!

Dark blue racerback tank with faux leather detail: Reg $16.99, on clearance for $11.88. I just had to have this when I saw it, the color is so pretty and I am in LOVE with the faux leather pocket and detail on it!

Cropped yoga pants: Reg $14.99, on clearance for $4.48! I couldn't pass these up for less than $5, you can never have enough yoga pants, right?!

Grey seersucker dress: Reg $27.99, on clearance for $4.24! I about died when I saw how cheap this dress was!!! It is so cute in person, you really can't see the true color or seersucker pattern in this picture.

Pink chiffon skirt: Reg $22.99, on clearance for $11.48. Gold cap toe flats: Reg $19.99, on clearance for $5.98. Neon orange sports bra: Reg $16.99, on clearance for $2.48! I love the skirt, the flats look so cute with skinny jeans and are very comfy. The sports bra I got lucky, I think someone had returned it and it is out of season, but I love Target's sports bras and was so happy to find this one at that price!

Pink/grey striped cardigan: Reg $22.99, on clearance for $6.88! I love cardigans, but I usually don't like striped ones...I loved the colors on this one though and really couldn't beat it at that price.

Skull slip-on shoes: $19.99! Compared to Toms which are $48-59. I love the skulls and the color of these shoes, they are super comfy too! They come in more colors/pattens, so check them out when you go to Target.

Bargains: Mini Peebles haul

I never shop at Peebles, mainly because there aren't that many around and the one near me isn't in the best area. However, from the advice of someone else....my mom decided to start going in there and she has found the BEST deals! Peebles has a great clearance and they always have current coupons that you can use on top of the clearance items. My mom always finds really nice dresses for herself and TONS of baby and kids clothing dirt cheap!

We were visiting my grandma at the river, about an hour away, and stopped at the Peebles in Gloucester, VA. There was tons of cute stuff, but this is what I left with:

Unionbay patterned racerback tank: Reg $28, paid $4.70! I love the back on this tank, as well as the detail of the straps.

Sequin Hearts pink/black hi low dress: Reg $49, paid $23.49! This picture doesn't even do this dress justice....I love the tie dye pink pattern on the bottom and the lace faux-corset tube top!

A. Byer coral pink chiffon top: Reg $40, paid $8.95! Again, the picture doesn't do this top justice, it is SO pretty in person!

Bargains: Kroger's seasonal summer items on clearance

My boring grocery store trip turned to such excitement when I found these bad boys!

I love the end of every season because that is when everything gets put on clearance! Kroger of all places, always has good seasonal clearance items. I'm sure other grocery stores do to, so if you are near a Kroger go check it out or go to your nearest chain grocery store....you might find some good stuff!

I found these lanterns the other day, they have battery operated LED candles in them. They are a nice size (about 12 inches tall) and are for outdoor use, which I am positive they would look awesome in someone's backyard oasis! I on the other hand, am going to be using them indoor. I have been checking out lanterns where ever I go, but most places they can be pretty expensive. My son's room is done in a camping/fishing theme so I am going to paint at least one of them red to put in his room. The regular price on these were $14.99 but I scored them for $4.50 a piece at 70% off...can't beat that!

Sweet Treat: Low fat low sugar Chocolate Oreo Pudding

The only sugar in this recipe is from the milk and reduced fat Oreos. You can make this COMPLETELY sugar free too, I'll explain that below. I've been making a different Oreo pudding recipe all my life, but this recipe I got from a friend and tweaked it a bit. I like this dish(it tastes almost like the Hershey Pies at Burger King!!), but I also like the other one I make so I will have to make another post for my original recipe!

**For completely SUGAR FREE recipe: You can use sugar free Oreos or any brand sugar free chocolate sandwich cookies that you can find...they are usually on the isle with all the sugar free diabetic foods. The only sugar free milk you will probably be able to find will be a dairy free milk such as So Delicious dairy free sugar free vanilla almond milk. Just an FYI: I made my original Oreo pudding recipe before with sugar free chocolate sandwich cookies and I didn't particularly like the taste, so it's up to you!**


Ingredients:

1 package of REDUCED FAT Oreo cookies
6 tblspn of butter, melted
1 8 oz. package of Weight Watchers reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of Splenda
2 tbspn of milk
2 containers of SUGAR FREE Cool Whip, thawed
1 box of SUGAR FREE Jell-o instant chocolate pudding
1 box of SUGAR FREE Jell-o instant vanilla pudding
3 cups of milk (I use SKIM milk)
approx. 3/4 cup of Hershey's SUGAR FREE chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Put one whole package of reduced fat Oreos in a gallon size ziploc bag and crush using a heavy glass or rolling pin.

2. Put cookie crumbles in large bowl and mix in melted butter until crumbles are coated completely.

3. Spread and press cookie mixture into bottom of a 9X13 dish until the bottom is completely and evenly covered.

4. Put dish of cookie crust into refrigerator to chill while making next layer.

5. While crust is chilling; in a large bowl blend the WW cream cheese with a blender until fluffy. Then stir in Splenda and 2 tblspn of milk. When well blended, stir in 3/4 container of sugar free Cool Whip.

6. Take dish back out of refrigerator and evenly spread cream cheese mix over cookie mixture.

7. Next layer, mix both boxes of sugar free instant pudding with 3 cups of milk until thickens up (about 3-4 minutes), then stir in the remaining cool whip from the first container.

8. Spread pudding mixture evenly over the cream cheese layer.

9. Next layer, spread the other container of cool whip evenly over pudding mixture.

10. Garnish with Hershey's sugar free chocolate chips and chill for a couple hours before serving. (I used miniature semi-sweet morsels for this post because my grocery store was out of the Hershey's sugar free chocolate chips.)

                                                                                                                   

Beauty: The cure to softer non-chapped lips!

 

Okay so first, the elephant in the room....I have been completely awful with this whole blog thing. I haven't updated in forever and I feel so bad! My last sub-term at Liberty was excruciating for me because I took an extra class and on top of that, I am now in my major classes - so yea, you get the idea. I also recently had a little minor surgery (or not so minor I should say) and I am going to cover that whole experience in a future post, for anyone who is interested! Anyways, I am back on track now and I am going to start updating this regularly...I am also going to make it a priority! ;)

Back to the original post....

I don't know how many people suffer with dry, chapped lips, but I know I sure do! I suffer year-round, not just in the winter like most people, and unfortunately I have dealt with this since I was little. I like to call it "chronic dry lips" because I swear it is a disorder for me. I have seen doctors and my derm about it because it is embarrassing, I am constantly picking at my lips and people always tell me to stop, they just peel, and peel, and peel. I have tried every medicated chapstick and lip treatment out there and the only advice I got from the doctor was to use Aquaphor (really? I was seriously hoping there was some kind of seriously moisturizing lip ointment that you need a prescription for. Apparently there isn't, or maybe my doctor felt it was unnecessary...who knows!). Needless to say, the Aquaphor surprisingly didn't work.

Fast-forward to present-day....I have finally found something that works and honestly it is unbelievable to me because it is so cheap and over-the-counter! It is Maybelline's Baby Lips SPF 20 Moisturizing Lip Balm! I saw a commercial for it right when it came out; it's claims were to have 8 hour lip hydration and visibly renewed lips in just 4 weeks, on top of that it claims to be at the clinical strength level. I was thinking yea right, I even laughed. I have tried literally everything, so I decided I might as well give it a shot and to my surprise, my lips were better in A DAY! Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has made my lips better...EVER! So for me to claim this, and to even write about it...well, that means something. This stuff is amazing and I will never ever go another day without it in my life. I have bought it in every flavor (It's actually pretty flavor-less which I like, I hate flavored lip glosses and chapsticks..yuck) and color and I have not had one that didn't work yet. I don't know what I will do if they ever discontinue it. So Maybelline, if you see this, PLEASE DON'T EVER DISCONTINUE BABY LIPS, EVER. People like me don't just love it, we NEED it...please and thank you!

Oh and while I'm on the subject, for those who have dry peeling lips like me, my favorite lipstick I have found is Wet N Wild's Mega Last Lip Color. It is super cheap and SUPER works! It never goes on caked, it lasts, and never bleeds on to my teeth. Lipstick usually looks horrible on my lips due to the peeling, but for what ever reason this stuff always goes on well and looks smooth, I love it.

**I paid for this product and all opinions are my own.**

Beauty: Whiter teeth in minutes!

I have found the BEST mouthwash ever so I had to share!

I am seriously obsessed with whitening my teeth. I use strips all the time, toothpastes, mouthwashes, and the list could go on....

For years I have been using the Crest Whitestrips and I love those, still use them often. I will also buy the Target brand white strips and feel those work very well too, especially for the price. Even though I've bought "whitening" toothpastes and mouthwashes as well, I can't give them any credit for whitening my teeth....that is until I found an awesome mouthwash about a month ago!

I ran across a cool little bottle of mouthwash at Target that was by Rembrandt called Deeply White + Peroxide Whitening Mouthwash. Well that for one caught my eye because I knew I hadn't ran across a mouthwash that had hydrogen peroxide in it, so I immediately thought "wow, that probably has some good whitening power!". I'm all about trying anything new that I think will whiten my teeth, so I broke out my phone and looked up some reviews on it. All the reviewers were saying how much they loved this mouthwash, it was the only one of its kind, they noticed results immediately...so on. I got excited, so I snatched it up.

Rembrandt claims that this is the first whitening mouthwash that restores and strengthens tooth enamel while also visibly whitening teeth. The mouthwash starts working on contact due to it's rapid-release liquid peroxide formula.

When I tried this mouthwash for the first time, I was seriously shocked. My teeth were a couple shades whiter just after one use. From using it a month now, I will say that the whitening effects of this mouthwash aren't as long lasting as the whitestrips alone IF you don't use it on a daily basis. If you use this in the morning and at night consistently, your teeth WILL be whiter and the whitening will last...you just have to be consistent with it. My bottle cost about $5 and even after a month I still have a lot left. I will have to agree with Rembrandt and a lot of other fans that this mouthwash is truly one of a kind. I have tried SO many and this is the only one that I have actually seen results from, GREAT results at that. I still use my strips and I believe the two together give me amazing results. So, if you want white teeth fast I would go pick you up a bottle of this and a box of whitening strips and you will be good to go!

If you sign up for Rembrandt's special offers here, you will automatically receive manufacturers coupons that you can print and use towards a purchase of this mouthwash.

**I paid for this product and all opinions are my own.**

Design on a dime: Reupholstering an old ottoman

....and turning an ordinary ottoman into a STORAGE ottoman for less than $20!

Thanks to my cousin Kim and her blog TheDisserKnows, I got a great idea to reupholster my old ottoman that I was debating on throwing out!

I looked around at different ottomans to buy but just couldn't seem to find one that 'fit' me (I wanted one just like my old one). Ottomans are one of my favorite things! In my opinion, they are way cooler than your traditional coffee table. They come in many different shapes, sizes, and colors and some of them even have storage! If you can find a ottoman tray or any kind of tray for that matter that fits your ottoman, you can sit it on top for decor or as a multipurpose hard surface just as you would have with a coffee table. The reason my ottoman is so dear to me is because it is so comfortable and squishy, not to mention it is the perfect size for my living room. I don't like the look of reclining furniture, but I love that I can kick back and use my soft cushioned ottoman as a footrest (much more comfortable than any recliner!). The tray comes in handy for that as well because everything you have on top will be in it so that when you need to use your ottoman for other purposes the tray is easily relocated. My poor ottoman had been through the ringer, there were so many stains on it that no matter how much I cleaned and scrubbed they would not come out. I bought a stretchy cover for it but that didn't look right, so I was just done with this ottoman! One other quality my ottoman was lacking was that it was not a storage ottoman, which is what I really wanted. When I decided I was going to reupholster it, I also decided I was gonna turn my favorite little ottoman into my ultimate favorite ottoman by making it have storage...I was so excited!


This ottoman re-do cost me less than $20!!!!

Materials needed:
-Scissors
-Flathead screwdriver
-Fabric (I used a little less than 2 1/2 yards)
-Staple gun
-Glue gun (optional)
-Thin piece of board cut to the size of ottoman for base of lid (only needed if your turning ottoman into storage ottoman or if your ottoman top needs support for weight)
-Thin piece of board cut to your dimensions for the base of the inside bottom of ottoman (only needed if your turning ottoman into storage ottoman)
-Piano hinge (only needed for storage ottoman)

So here is what I did:

This is what it looked like before, also with the ugly slipcover I bought. I know...gross.

First, I flipped the ottoman over and unscrewed the legs off. I lost patience with using a flathead screwdriver to remove the old staples so I just used scissors to cut all the old fabric off, haha. The fabric on this ottoman was all one piece even though its sewed to look like the top is separate. Once all the old fabric was off, the top cushion was separate from the base. I stretched fabric around cushion evenly and glued the fabric on the under side of the cushion. I recommend putting a thin piece of wood or MDF cut to the size of the ottoman on the underside that you can stretch the fabric over and then staple. This is the only way you can add hinges for the lid to open and close if doing storage and if you use your ottoman as a seat, you will definitely need to do this because with out it, there is no support unless your ottoman already has built in support. For a more detailed look at how to do this, click here. I then cut the corners of the fabric down a little and then folded and tucked one side, pulling down and gluing underneath. I did not do the wood for the lid base yet, but I am going back and doing it...just didn't have the material at the time. Also, my ottoman has a support bar going across as you will see below, but that is being removed after I put the base on the bottom of lid.

For the base, I measured and cut 4 strips of material a little bigger than the width and height of each side. I stretched the material over each side and stapled. When I got to the corners, I did as I did before and cut down the extra material a bit and then folded and tucked under, pulling and stapling material under the base.

I then attached a thin piece of board to the underside of the cushion that I screwed the hinge onto. I recommend doing it this way instead, the way I did it was kind of thrown together because I went back and did it after I had already finished my ottoman. I then stapled a board in the inside bottom of the ottoman that I had cut to the size I needed. Again, click here to see how another person did the inside of theirs for an alternative way.

Here is the finished look...

Well, there you have it! If you have any questions, leave a comment!

**Other blog that I referenced to:  

Running With Scissors (Jessica @ Running With Scissors) / CC BY-NC 3.0

All about me: Let me introduce myself....

 

Hi!

I decided to use my first blog post to introduce myself!

In case you didn't already know, my name is Emily and I am from Richmond, Virginia. I am a single mom and full time college student at Liberty University pursuing a double major in accounting and finance! My son Peyton is about to be five and he is my entire world! I've always been interested in interior design; due to where the economy stands I decided to go to school and get a degree in a field that I know will always be beneficial to me. Once I graduate and get my masters, I plan to go to school again (on the side that is, I plan to be working on my career in accounting!) and pursue interior design somewhere down the road...it's what I enjoy doing!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a strong willed person. If I put my mind to something, rest assured I WILL do it! I also am a very opinionated person and I will tell you exactly what is on my mind or what I think. Sometimes this gets me in trouble, it is very hard for someone to persuade me to think any differently than what I already think. I am a Christian and I love staying up to date with politics, these are two things that I feel very strongly about and could talk about for hours; however, these are things that I will be leaving OUT of my blog to avoid offending anyone or sparking debates! :)

Speaking of my blog.....I decided to create this blog because I am the type of person that uses the internet for everything! When I am at the store, I almost always am debating on what item to get so I break out my handy little smartphone and bring up Google or Amazon to see what others are saying about a specific item. I can not tell you how much time and money this has saved me! If it has bad reviews then nope...putting that back, if it has tons of raves then I'm good to go! I have so many things that I love that were either great deals or something I just think needs to be shared, so my blog will be that outlet for me! If you have ever heard the saying "ballin' on a budget"...well that's me (at least most of the time, haha). I do splurge every now and again, but what girl doesn't?! ;)

Okay, well I think I've covered the most important things...hope you enjoy my blog!