Beauty, Fashion, Recipes, DIY Projects, and More: All for the Busy and Budgeted.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Poached Egg Avocado Sandwich

I'm sure you know by now how much I love egg sandwiches. I mean, practically every other recipe I post is an egg sandwich type recipe. And today is no exception! This is one of the best egg sandwiches I've ever made. It has everything a girl (or guy whatever) could want: eggs, cheese, bagels, and avocado.

So! To start off, poach a couple eggs.


I usually poach two eggs at a time. What I do is bring a large pot of water to boil. I crack the eggs into a small plastic dish and put them to the side. I'm careful not to break the yolks or anything like that. Then, I stir a cyclone into the boiling water, and drop the eggs into the center of it. Then I let them boil for 12 minutes or something like that. Sometimes, it works perfectly. On very rare occasions, it's disastrous.


Meanwhile, toast an everything bagel. "Can we use a different type of bagel?" Yeah, sure.  I mean, don't use a sweet bagel (like cinnamon raisin or chocolate chip) because that sounds like a weird cornucopia of tastes. Also, don't use plain or whole wheat unless you're the most boring person alive. I always use everything bagels, though. So you should probably do that, too.


Your eggs are still boiling at this point. You get that right? Pro-cooking involves multitasking. So, your eggs better still be boiling.

Okay, coat your toasted bagels in cheese. I used mozzarella and parmesan. Other good choices: provolone, swiss, and cheddar.


Put your broiler on high. 


And broil that delicious cheesy bagel goodness for like five minutes so the cheese gets all melty and delicious.


Probably while you're broiling your bagel, you're going to want to slice up some avocado. As you can see, I sliced up slightly more than 1/4 of an avocado.


Ideally, your eggs will be done about when the bagels get done. That way, everything can come together at once! So, put your poached eggs on one of the cheesy bagels. Then add salt and pepper and the sort of stuff. By "that sort of stuff" I obviously mean "whatever kind of spice you'd like unless it's something that would be weird like cinnamon or something that would be illegal I'm looking at you Hannibal."


Then add your avocado. Mmm. Avocado.


Then top everything off with your other bagel-bun. And you're done! Eat it and enjoy. I would recommend eating it with a knife and fork. I know, you're supposed to be able to eat sandwiches with your handwiches but if you try that with this all of the innards are bound to fall out.

And definitely let me know if you try out this recipe or one like it! You can comment below, tweet pictures at me, or just concentrate on my face really hard while you're eating your poached egg avocado sandwich and maybe we'll be able to figure out how telepathy works.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Film Fashion: Penelope

Okay! So, I'm going to start this blogpost with a little back story. My family has always enjoyed Star Trek The Next Generation. Apparently, when I was being potty trained, I would sit on the toilet forever and my mother would point out characters on a Star Trek The Next Generation calendar and see if I knew their names. Too much information? Sorry. When I was a kid, we had Enterprise crew member action figures. I used to wear headbands over my eyes while pretending to be Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge. (For those of you who don't watch Next Gen, LaForge wears a visor because he's blind. So, the headband visor was totally a sensible call for a seven year old costumer.) Throughout the past few years, we've accrued all seven seasons of Star Trek The Next Generation. Recently, we've been rewatching them. At some point, my brother mentions the best blog I'd never heard of: a Star Trek The Next Generation Fashion Blog. You can check it out here and I definitely recommend you do.

So, I wanted to borrow and adapt their brilliant idea. Which is why I've decided to start a recurring series on this blog called "Film Fashion." In it, I'll recap a movie and discuss the featured fashions. I wanted to start with Chasing Liberty because the other day my brother said, "You know, that movie with Mandy Moore and Paul Rudd?" and I said, "If there was a movie with Mandy Moore and Paul Rudd I definitely would have seen it 10,000 times." and he said, "You have! She's like a president's daughter?" Which is how I found out that Nash has no clue what Paul Rudd looks like. Anyway, I thought Chasing Liberty would be a fun way to start because 1. Nash made me want to watch it again, 2. Each character basically only wears 2 things throughout the whole thing, and 3. 90's clothes. But unfortunately, I was unable to capture images from the DVD. So, I decided to start with one of my very favorite movies: 


I'm going through this whole movie, so I anticipate this being a long post. (Also, rife with spoilers. So if you haven't seen the movie but want to, maybe wait and read this some other time?) There will be a lot of pictures, keep in mind, it's just, because it'll be so long, you're going to find all of the brilliant stuff down below this cut off thing:

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Twice Baked Potatoes!

Okay, to start: credit where credit is due, I have a couple very good friends, Megan and Becca, who I hang out with a lot. One time, when I was at their apartment, they made these for dinner and they were soo good I literally dreamt about them that night. So, this is a recipe that I stole from my friends and now I'm going to share with you!

Also: I think they might have used green onions or chives or something in theirs, but I didn't use them in mine because... well, frankly, I wasn't quite sure which and also I constantly forget.

Anyway! These are pretty cheap to make (potatoes are a pretty cheap food, after all) and they're pretty easy to make (seriously the oven does most of the work for you) and they're SUPER DELICIOUS. Also, apparently Becca did the math and they aren't as bad for you as they seem. That having been said, I don't think you should have a diet consisting of nothing but twice baked potatoes. But if you did, I wouldn't blame you. They're so good, you guys. SO GOOD.

Right. Let's get started. Here's what you'll need:


The amounts of everything will depend on your preference and the number of people you're cooking for. But the ingredients are: potatoes, butter, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. (Also: I've used garlic salt before and that turned out pretty good, too.)


Rinse off your potatoes and scrub away the dirt. Then stab them with a fork approximately seven times per potato. Then set them in a pan or a baking sheet. Of course, you could also wrap them up in tin foil, I guess, but the one time I did that it turned out kind of disastrous.


Preheat your oven to 400*F, put the potato-pan in the oven, and set a timer for one hour. Guys! You definitely need to have stabbed your potatoes a bunch before this step because if you didn't do that then you're potatoes are going to straight up explode in your oven. And then you'll have to clean that mess up. And nobody likes cleaning. Except for, like, Monica in FRIENDS.


Okay, when the hour is up, grab an oven mitt or a thick towel or whatever so you can grab each potato individually and slice them in half, Then, hollow them out into little potato boats. Place the potato insides into a bowl because if you throw them away you'll muck everything up you punk.


So, in a bowl, mix up your baked potato innards, some sour cream, some butter, some cheese, and some salt and pepper. The proportions of this is all just "whatever you feel like." Don't get me wrong, you can totally wind up with not enough stuff or way too much stuff, but, I think you can just common sense it. Plus, just knowing what you like. Like, maybe you want more cheese and less sour cream. It's fine. Doesn't matter. (I don't think Becca and Megan had specific proportions, but I guess maybe they did. I'm not sure.)

Then, you're going fill up the emptied out potatoes with this mess of deliciousness.


Once your potato boats are reloaded, pop them back into the oven for another fifteen minutes. I'm not sure if Megan and Becca turn the heat down, but I just leave it at 400*F).

When you pop them out, they'll be all crispy and gooey and delicious. Like this:


Mmmm. So good. I recommend making a few more than 1 potato per person. Like, when I made them for my brother and I, I used four potatoes "just in case" and I ended up eating 3 halves and he ended up eating 5. Worst case scenario, you have left-overs. And that's not a bad thing.

When I was at Megan and Becca's they made a whole mess of potatoes even though there was just the three of us. They just pop the leftovers in the fridge and then microwave them throughout the week.

Anyway, they're so good that if you just make a few extras, they'll probably all get eaten up. See, they're so good, even my cat wants in on that cheesy-gooey-potato-goodness.


That's actually not saying a lot. My cat loves cheese, butter, and salt, and these twice potatoes have plenty of all of the above.

Anyway! Enjoy! And when you, drop by Megan's tumblr ask box to let her know you loved her recipe.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Rain Day In

Somedays, when it's rainy and you're broke, it's nice to just lounge around at home. So, that's what I did on this particular rainy day, and I thought you might want to spend it with me.

Let's start with a brief get ready with me!


So, since I was just lounging at home, I kept today's look pretty simple. Here it is start to finish. As you can see, I went with a pretty neutral eye and lip, and I did a simple fishtail braid with bangs for my hair. Here's the makeup I used:


Since I was just staying in, I used a bit of concealer and powder on my eyelids, but I didn't bother with eye shadow or mascara or whatever.

Anyway! Outfit-wise, I rocked this stellar button-down and leggings and socks I stole from Renee look:


Haha. Such a natural pose, right? I just was trying to figure out how to get my socks into the picture. Yikes. You can check out the fashion blog post for it here

Now, after I got all ready, I settled down with some good lounge-around-work: Scrapbooking! 


After I graduated high school, I made a "high school scrapbook" and I collaged the cover. So! Now that I've graduated college, I decided to make a "college scrapbook" which is what you see all collaged to the left of the picture. I'm ALMOST finished with it, but I have a few more pictures to work on.

Around lunchtime, I made myself a DELICIOUS hardboiled egg wrap. I seriously love egg wraps. 



This one was made of: 
  • One whole wheat tortilla
  • One hardboiled egg
  • A bit of mayonnaise
  • Some cheddar cheese
Actually, it's a whole lot like this recipe! I mean, not exactly like that recipe but still really similar

Then I had some chocolate chip cookies and milk for dessert: 


Usually when I make chocolate chip cookies, they turn out kind of flat. But this time, they turned out pretty well! It's on my list to make a batch of perfect chocolate chip cookies, and thanks to some advice from friends and family, it looks like I'm on my way to achieving that one!

Anyway. While I was on half of the table eating cookies and scrapbooking, my brother was taking up the other half of the table with TWO laptops. Seriously. TWO! Who is he? Wade from Kim Possible???


Anyway, I'm sure I did more than just scrapbook and eat cookies throughout the bulk of the day, but I guess it wasn't interesting enough for me to take pictures.

So jump forward a bit. I ended the day hanging out with my family, watching Star Trek The Next Generation and playing Kim Kardashian Hollywood. (It would have been way more appropriate if I'd been playing Kim Cardassian Hollywood. Eh? Eh? Eh? That's not my joke, really. It's just the joke of everyone whose ever watched any post-Next Gen-Trek and also heard of the Kardashians.)

This is Picard's imitation of that one time Worf's childhood Klingon Pet materialized on the bridge.
Making reeeeeal good use of my Nook HD+ right therrrre. 
Anyway, while we were watching Star Trek, Nash was hanging out with his bird and I was taking super close up pictures of my cat:

He's mad because I was trying to take a picture of him acting sweet. He hates that. He's sweetness is a secret. 
 I'm not sure why Zoey doesn't like me more. I only OCCASIONALLY stick a camera really close to her face.
Once it got a little bit later, and I got a little tired of being around people, I retreated to my room to read Landline. Actually, if you follow me on other social media outlets, this might give you a pretty good idea of when this particular Rainy Day In was. After all, I tweeted about it and posted my shelfari review in early August. Plus, it was featured in one of my mid-August fashion blog posts! Anyway, point is, I decided to wind down by hanging out alone reading a book by my favorite author. 

Let's be real, I made my bed before taking this picture. I didn't even seriously make my bed. I just made it enough so that you wouldn't know how much of a slob I really am.
And then I went to sleep. So that's the end of my Rainy Day In but before I end this blogpost, I should tell you a secret about that day. Especially because I mentioned making my bed right before taking the Landline picture. Earlier in the day, I was putting away my clothes. In my closet, I have two fabric, hanging, shelf things. And when I put away a couple of my t-shirts in one of the fabric shelf things, the weight finally got to it and broke it. Since then, my dad has repaired it, it's back to hanging in my closet, and my dad even made it extra strong so that it could withstand all of my clothes. But during most of this day, all of my shirts were strewn across my bed. Which my cat, who likes sleeping on my bed and likes sleeping on clothes, really enjoyed:

"I am queen of the clothes-hill. Do not look at my clothes hill. This is MY clothes hill."
So now you're probably wondering: where did you put all of your clothes before taking the Landline picture. Good question. See, when I'm being kind of messy (which, right now, when I have way too much stuff for the amount of space I have tends to be "basically all the time") I have this habit of keeping stuff on my bed during the day, and then moving them to my chair at night. Then, during the day, I move them back to my bed. Then, when night comes, I move them back to my chair. It's this whole thing. But this time, I moved them to my chair really neatly and then just left them there until my shelf thing was repaired.


Okay! So there you have it: my rainy day in. I hope you enjoyed it. :)

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Get Ready With Me: Big Hair and Smokey Eyes


All right! Let's get to transforming!


To start with, I used LUSH Vanishing Cream as my moisturizer. I've actually reviewed this moisturizer before (and two other LUSH moisturizers, too) so if you want to check THAT blog post out, it's right here. Then, I used Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser. Then, I used ALMAY Clear Complexion Concealer to cover blemishes and discolorations.


For my liquid foundation, I used COVERGIRL Clean "Sensitive Skin" liquid foundation. Here's the deal: I tried this stuff out, but I do not like it. It gives crappy coverage and is too oily. Next, I used e.l.f. Studio Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder. I used the bronzing powder under my cheek bones, up towards my temples, down my nose, below my jawline, and down my neck. I used the blush on the apples of my cheeks. I finished up with ALMAY Smart Shade Loose Finishing Powder


I used a light gray color all over my eyelids from my ULTA Jewel Palette. From the same palette, I used a darker color in the crease of the outer corners of my eyelids, I used a fluffy brush to apply it to really give it the "smokey eye" effect. I used Wet n Wild Color Icon eyeliner in black black along the outer corners of my eyelids along my upper lash line. I used the same eyeliner along my lower waterline. For my mascara, I used my absolute favorite mascara: Rimmel London Lash Accelerator mascara.


For my lips, I used Zum Kiss in lemon-ginger as chapstick and NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Tokyo as my lip color.

Now, the title of this blogpost is "Big Hair and Smokey Eyes" so, I think I should show you why the "Big Hair" bit is in there. Now, before I went out and about my day, I beat my hair into a bun. But, before then, I took several pictures (and made an entire fashion blog post) featuring my hair in all it's untamed glory. So... here. Check it out:


Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Camper Fashion!

To conclude our camp-themed-weeks here on beautythekat, I thought I'd throw together some advice for the fashionable campers out there. Because you know that you want camp-fashion advice from a seasoned girl scout. Seasoned with salt and pepper. 'Cause I have gray hairs. Right. So, here we go!

1. Take a page out of my book, and copy some fashionable campers from popular camp films, shows, or comics. I did a Camp Takota tutorial and a Lumberjanes tutorial on my youtube channel.
2. Plan for literally anything. Now, I'm not advising you to overpack. I'm just saying, it doesn't really matter that you're going camping in August: it could still get chilly, so bring some pants and a jacket. It doesn't matter that according to weather.com the skies will be clear: it could still rain a ton, so bring a poncho. Always be prepared. You don't want to wind up like Michael Scott, tearing up your suit because you're hot in the afternoon, and then trying to piece it back together because you're cold at night. So, plan for anything. Anything. Well, I mean, it's pretty safe to say you won't be needing a ballgown "just incase" but maybe bring a sundress. You never know. Jojo met that dude she was eventually mackin' on in RV

3. Embrace the braid. If you're a long-haired lady headin' out to camp, the braid is your new best friend. It keeps your hair out of the way. It helps you maintain your hair regardless of the elements. And it's fly as hell, so get to braiding. This summer, I've been ALL ABOUT the Fishtail braid. 


And because I love you, and want you to look supa fly while you're out in the woods, I've complied a list of some of my braid-related hair tutorials (I know. So generous. Not self promoting. Just straight up generositing.): 
4. SPF everything regularly. Yeah, if you watched my Sunkissed Summer Tag video, you know, I don't typically wear sunscreen. But! If I plan on being outdoors for an hour or more? Or if I plan on being in direct sunlight? Oh, hell yeah, I'm sunscreening up. There's nothing less cute than a sunburn. So get yourself some moisturizer with an SPF, chapstick with an SPF, and sunscreen. And apply it all throughout the day. 

5. There is, of course, no need to ever wear makeup. I don't just mean "you don't have to wear makeup when you're camping" I mean you don't have to wear makeup ever. But if you want to? You want to. It doesn't make you Lindsay Lohan's mean almost-step-mom in Parent Trap. If you're into wearing makeup, though, I'd like to advise you... keep it simple. Like: tinted moisturizer, finishing powder, chapstick, mascara, possibly tinted lip balm. Chances are, you'll sweat most of it off, anyway. So, you know, don't waste super expensive stuff, and try not to wear anything excessively chemically. 

6. Bug spray regularly. The only thing less cute than a sunburn? Itchy red splotches all over your body.

7. Consider any potential camp-specific dress codes. If you're going to church camp or girl scout camp you may have dress codes to consider. Most commonly, I've encountered the "not shorts shorter than knee length," "no spaghetti strap tank tops," and "no two piece bathing suits." Maybe you don't agree with some of the dress codes (seriously, I went to one session at a church camp and I had to wear /shudder/ capris all week) but you'll probably want to abide by them. 

8. Don't go too fancy. Seriously, camping always ruins stuff. It almost always rains and leaks into your tent and soaks all your belongings. Your shoes get coated in mud. You rip holes into your shirts. So, please, just leave your favorite pieces at home. Look cute, of course. But be sensible. You don't want to mourn the loss of your cutest shoes.

9. Drink lots of water. Dehydration? Not cute. Not cute at all. Plus drinking a lot of water is good for your skin. And it helps to relieve you of stress. Relaxation is super cute. 

10. Shower shoes. They can be anything: flip flops, water sandals, crocs. Yes. That's right. If you were duped into buying a pair of crocs back in 2009, congratulations. You've found some place appropriate for wearing them: the nasty cement shower in the middle of a campground. Seriously, avoid foot funguses at all costs. Even if "at all costs" means "potentially getting caught wearing crocs." But, I hope, for the sake of style, you just get a pair of $2.00 foam flip flops from a department store.

11. Hats and bandanas! Hats and bandanas are cool AND they keep you cool, too. You'll probably find  a lot of people rockin' the baseball cap on the campgrounds and this is a top notch choice. I mean, the baseball cap (despite being featured in Kim K's Hollywood) isn't necessarily stylish, but it's one of those pieces that isn't ever really out of style, either. Plus, the brim helps protect your face from sunburns! Yay! Plus if you're having a bad hair day (and let's be honest, you're outdoors and sleeping on the ground, so you're probably having a bad hair day) it can totally help hide the hideousness. As for bandanas... bandanas are hella fly. You can wear them around your neck, you can use them to mop up sweat, you can tie them in a band around your head, or you could do that little triangle flap hat thing that fourth grade girls do with 'em. I think I look super cute in a bandana, so if I were to go camping that's what I'd wear.


Along with my awesome hat tips, you should know: some people wear those floppy fisherman hats. Here's the thing: I totally support anyone wearing whatever they want. But that's a lie. I hate floppy fisherman hats. They're stupid and limp. So just get a regular freaking hat, okay? I don't care that floppy fisherman hats protect your face from the sun. I don't care that they help protect your head/face/hair/ears from getting fishing hooks caught on them. I think they're stupid. So if you wanna wear them? Go ahead. I support you in the "wear whatever you feel like" sort of way. But don't let me see you wear them. Because I cannot support you assaulting my eyeballs. 

12. Chacos. Here's a thing, my best friend is a camp counselor. And according to her, chacos are all the rage amongst the cool camp counselors. She explained the reasons (and I'm quoting verbatim here) that Chacos are so popular as: "They have good arch support and are comfy, are adjustable, you can get them wet, dirty, hose them off, they're more or less indestructible, and you can get them resoled or restrapped, [amd] they give you an awesome tan line." 

13. Wearable camp crafts. If you're going to a camp, rather than just going camping, there are usually activities, including crafts, planned out for you. In these situations, there are certain wearable camp crafts that are often crafted while at camp. For instance, friendship bracelets made with embroidery floss or tie dyed t-shirts. You should definitely wear this stuff. Why? Well, because, they're cool anyway. Like, even if you aren't at camp. Alli (best friend, camp counselor, chaco fan) wears friendship bracelets all the time and she is hands down the coolest person I know. And there's a reason people still tie-dye stuff. And it isn't because accidentally dying you're hands blue is super fun. So, if you've just made some friendship bracelets or a tie-dyed t-shirt? Wear it! It's a physical representation of your involvement, it's super camp culture, and it's hella rad. Before you go to camp, though, consider these wearable camp craft tips:

  • Study up. Watch some ColorfulSteve videos to get some tips on rad tie-dye designs. 
  • Bring a few extra white t-shirts. Then, maybe you can do MULTIPLE tie-dyed shirts. OR if some of the other girls left their shirts at home, you could give them your extra shirts. And ta-da you're the most popular girl in camp. (Semi-related: ladies! Always carry lots of feminine hygiene products on you. Because when you run into a lady in need of a tampon in a public restroom, you can GIVE HER ONE and ta-da you have a new friend.)
  • Make a bunch of friendship bracelets before you go to camp. Then, add another 1-2 every day. Pretend other campers gave them to you. Suddenly, your wrists have so many friendship bracelets on them and that must mean that you have so many friends. And then because you look like you are friends with basically everyone, basically everyone will want to be your friend. And ta-da you're the most popular girl in camp.
  • Look up a variety of friendship bracelet tutorials so you can make a wide variety of super cool friendship bracelets. For instance, you can check out these tutorials for a fishtail braceleta chain bracelet, and a wrap bracelet

All right, now go get 'em you stylish little camper, you!

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Oven Baked Chocolate Banana Boats!

Well, there's only a breath of summer left! Late summer and early autumn always bring back memories of one thing for me...

CAMPING.


When I was younger, my family used to gather throughout the summer to have campouts. This lil' pic is of my cousins and I playing in a lake. (It's a funny story, but I use this picture all the freaking time and tell that story all the time, so I imagine you've all already heard it. If not, let me know and I'll by all means tell you again.)

I also would go to camp and on retreats with my youth group. And, I was a girl scout from kindergarten to senior year. We went camping all year round and I have a ton of fond memories with them, as well.

So anyway, the point is... camping.

I love camping. But also I hate it. It's outdoors and usually hot. There are bugs in the showers and toilets, or, even worse, there are no showers or toilets at all. Fires are fun, but the smoke constantly blowing into your face is less so. You get eaten by mosquitos and someone gets poison ivy and if it rains there's a 98% you, your sleeping bag, and all your clothes are getting soaked tent be damned. So, at two in the morning, when rain is beating down and cold water is seeping through the walls, and the campsite cats have crawled between your tent and the rain fly and they're screeching because they are so displeased, and you start to wonder: is this really worth it? I just wanted to hang out with some friends and eat melted chocolate.

So, I like to do a lot of "campy" things in the comfort of my own home. Earlier, I provided you with a fabulous oven baked s'mores recipe, and today, I'm going to show you how to make another campfire dessert in an oven. This time... banana boats.

Banana Boats are a delicious campfire food. Usually, you slice a banana down the middle, stuff it with chocolate and marshmallows, wrap it aluminum foil, and toss it on the fire for a bit. My recipe is going to differ a bit, in ingredients as well as in cooking mechanisms.



This recipe calls for three simple ingredients: bananas, dark chocolate chips, and creamy peanut butter. You'll also need an oven (Or a fire if you're actually camping/if you're a pyromaniac. Whatever I don't judge. Just kidding! Don't play with fire, kids), a knife, and aluminum foil. 



Start with the aluminum foil shiny side down, and put the banana on top of it. Make one slice down the length of the banana, and then several shorter slices cutting across the long line. You want the perpendicular cuts to be shorter than the width of the banana, and shallower than the first slice.


Spread peanut butter inside the banana, completely coating the insides of the banana.


Stuff the banana with dark chocolate chips. As many as you can fit. Melty chocolate for the win!


Now, wrap up the banana (shiny side out) and set it in the oven. You can just straight up sit in the oven, you don't need a pan or anything. I set my oven at 350* Fahrenheit. If you're using a campfire, you can totally just set the thing in the fire, but you want it to be kind of to the side. Like, don't just throw it in the thralls of the fire. That's just common sense, yo.


The amount of time you want to leave your banana boat in the oven totally depends on your oven, but I think somewhere in the 5-10 minute range is probably your best bet. I went with seven minutes. 


Then, take your delicious mess out of the oven and enjoy. Seriously. It's super good but super messy. Enjoy!