What I'm Loving Wednesday

This week is a shortened version of What I'm Loving Wednesday...mostly because there's a pile of work on my desk, multiple voicemails to return and I'm due in court in 15 minutes!!

But....there's one thing I've been loving this week that I had to pop in and write a quick post about! I'm not a huge app person. I have a few on my phone but find that I download them and never use them. This app, however, is different! I've been absolutely loving this!

I love reading this blog that helps identify what's healthy and what's not. A lot of what you think might be a healthy snack may have tons of sugar or other hidden chemicals and ingredients. The app allows you to scan a bar code. Fooducate will then grade the food for you. It will also convert some of the nutritional info into a more understandable form. For example, I scanned a Nature's Valley granola bar. It came up with a grade of a C. Mostly because the grams of sugar in it were the equivalent of 5 or 6 tsps of sugar. It's a little something to help keep you in check and might have some eye opening information for you! Check out the blog and website at http://www.fooducate.com/ for more information and interesting food tid bits!

And..be sure to hook up with What I'm Loving Wednesdays at http://www.littledaisymay.blogspot.com/

It's National Infertility Awareness Week..not a week that gets too much attention. Infertility is often referred to as a "silent disease" and affects 1 in 8 couples, or roughly 7.3 million people. In honor of National Infertility Awareness week, here's a clip from the Today show. Celebrity couple Guiliana and Bill Rancic have been open about their struggles with infertility on their reality TV show. I think it's fitting that during this week honoring infertility awareness that they chose to share this good news...

I guess Hallmark really does have a card for everything. I stopped off to grab Mother's Day cards this weekend. I thought it was hilarious that in this day and age where 50% of couples are divorced they still only have 2 Stepmother cards. Yet, I saw this card..and laughed even harder when I noticed that they were sold out of one of the versions.

It's really hard...

to get out of bed and go to work on such a horrible rainy day..especially when you're cats look this cute in your super comfortable bed that was very hard to get out of this morning

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Time for another week of What I'm Loving Wednesday...sometimes I surprise myself that I can actually come up with stuff each week! So, here we go.....

First up...the weather has finally taken a turn for the warmer here in RI! Temps in the 70's and 80's call for a nice frozen treat...one of my favorite picks....Edy's Fruit Bars. My favorite flavor...Grape..mostly because it's kind on the calories at 80 calories per a pop!

I'm also loving the new show, Scandal, on ABC Thursdays at 10pm. I caught the first episode and thought it was good, and then got hooked once I watched the second episode. I'm typically not really into political dramas...but love the little secrets of Washington that make this show work!

The show stars Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope...the woman who fixes all the big scandals in the nation's capital!

I'm also loving that it's the season (well at least in New England) to finally get some good avocados! I have an obsession with avocados..my absolute favorite thing to make...guacamole!

I like to think I make a mean guacamole..it's an absolute favorite in the Allan household and I feel like I make it at least every other week. It's great to dip veggies or chips in or even plop a little bit on top of your burger! For my recipe, click HERE

Enjoy your Wednesday and be sure to check out the What I'm Loving Wednesday blog hop at www.littledaisymay.blogspot.com !

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Time for another edition of What I'm Loving Wednesday! Be sure to check out this blog hop at www.littledaisymay.blogspot.com

So...what am I loving this Wednesday??

I'm obsessed with this show...My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet. I can't say I've watched too many programs on Animal Planet and Mr. Allan and I stumbled upon this show once and loved it..maybe because we have a cat from hell at our house who hates strangers.

Jackson Galaxy is the host or the cat whisperer and goes into people's homes to try and solve their kitty issues. I love the tips we pick up off this show. We were lucky enough to catch a marathon on Easter Sunday.

I'm also loving this new snack! My sister in law gets a big kudos for mentioning these to us this past weekend and then as I was aimlessly wandering in Walmart I spotted them! A good little treat that doesn't kill you in calories!

I think I may have posted about this product before. It's been a life saver this week..I've been exhausted. Mr. Allan's away on business and even going to bed at 830pm the other night didn't help. I looked beat the next morning and was thankful to have this as one of my staple beauty products. It helps when you're not looking so chipper in the morning. It's a cooling gel that helps out with bags and dark circles..gives me a fighting chance to look halfway decent when I'm not feeling it!

lastly...I'm also loving this Kiwi Buff Cream Express shoe polish. This was one of my sisters Favorite Things for Christmas this year. (click HERE to see a post about our Favorite Things tradition)

I love having this in my desk drawer to do a quick clean up on my Tory Burch flats or one of the 15 pairs of black heels under my desk since I'm a big scuffer when it comes to my shoes!

Hope you have a fantastic week!



I talk about my cats a lot. Probably because they're the cutest best cats ever. I'd even be willing to admit I'm maybe even borderline crazy cat lady. Let's face it, Mr. Allan and I don't have kids and these 3 furry cats have been the center of our lives for the past 12 years

I know I always bitch and complain and go on and on about how Mr. Allan travels a ton. Our cats go berserk when his trips are more in the 5-7 day range vs. 2-3 days. They do weird stuff like run around the house like chickens with their heads cut off looking for him and scratching at all doors thinking I've got him hog tied in my car trunk. Or, sometimes they go on strike with me and ignore me for a couple days thinking it'll bring him back sooner. But, I've also noticed they've got some pretty cute habits as well.

Here's a story that will solidify my crazy cat lady status. When Mr. Allan goes away one of my favorite things to do is take pictures of the cats on my phone and send them to him. I like to think it's a little reminder of home and he knows how much we miss him..you may think I'm just crazy and just need a life.

Last night our cat, Annabelle, did her little ritual when he's away. She crawled into bed and she likes to sleep right smack on Mr. Allan's pillow (insert your awww here and then don't think I'm a huge scrub that lets the cats sleep on the sheets..they'll be changed before he's home so his head doesn't sleep in the same spot my cat's litter paws did). So, of course I snapped a picture of it!

I went to send it to Mr. Allan this morning since he worked an overnight and laughed a little when I found 4 other pictures of the same exact shot...don't crack on the cat pillowcases...1) my mom made them and 2) it's always good to have extra pillowcases..even if they're cat print

 and another...and you probably get the picture...

So, I've determined that  1) when Mr. Allan goes out of town I should probably make more of an effort to meet up with friends and get out of the house and 2) that it's probably about time to clean out the cell phone camera.

A Good Friday indeed

Today is unfortunately not a day I automatically get off. But, the court calendars were light and we've got a 5 hour drive to PA ahead if us later today...so I took a vacation day. I wish I could say I slept in this morning, but with 3 cats pawing at your head at 6am letting you know its breakfast time..its impossible to sleep in in this house. But, I decided to try and make the best of it!

Mr. Allan had to head into work, so he got a special breakfast treat....some French Toast Casserole.

The rest of the day will be spent in bed hanging out with this one before it's time to pack up, prepare the cats for a weekend alone and hit the road and hope for not too much traffic!

Happy Easter and enjoy the weekend!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

TGIW...Thank God It's Wednesday! Yesterday morning I woke up so tired. It was one of those mornings where I could've slept for another 2 hours and had to literally drag myself out of bed. The first thought that popped into my head, was ...Great! It's Thursday and tomorrow if Friday...then reality hit and I realized it was only Tuesday!!!! So...I'm happy it's now Wednesday and tomorrow is really Thursday and then Friday!!! It's been a long week!

So...what am I loving this Wednesday??

I know there are always food items on my list of what I'm loving! I'm always on the hunt for new snacks that aren't going to blow the calorie counting or full of horrible things like transfat etc. I'm not a huge ice cream person...we seldom get in the car and go out for ice cream and it's not in our house a lot..at all. The other day I wanted a cold snack...and splurged and bought a little pint of Stoneyfield's Organic Frozen Yogurt. At around 140 calories for 1/4 of the container..it wasn't too bad! I loved the Minty Chocolate Chip and will gladly get this as an occasional snack!

I ran out of this the other day..it wasn't until the tube was dead empty that I realized what an essential part of my morning get ready routine this is. I'm vigilant about wearing sun block every day..even though my moisturizer and make up have spf in them, I probably read in Health or InStyle that that's not enough and got in the habit of wearing sunscreen every day. My favorite since it's lightweight and doesn't mess with the 900 other products I put on my face....Clinique's City Block with SPF 40.

Last week I told you how much I loved this book...Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James..with the warning that it is a little racy and va va va voom....

Well, I breezed through the first book and loved the second book.....if you're one to love the bad boy...then Christian Grey will be right up your alley!

And I'm currently about a third of the way through the last book...I'm taking my time because I have a feel I'll be sad to leave Christian Grey behind once I finish the trilogy!

And lastly...I'm very excited that this show is back in full swing! Since I quit the Desperate Housewives a few years ago and the Walking Dead is over for the season...Sunday nights just got a lot better with Mad Men back!

Enjoy your Wednesday and be sure to check out What I'm Loving Wednesday at www.littledaisymay.blogspot.com!

Calico Baked Beans

or as we like to call them...Annabelle beans..after our cute little calico cat :)

yesterday morning I woke up and we did our usual lazy Sunday morning routine..Mr. Allan fed the cats and made himself some coffee...he then came back into our bedroom where we read the Sunday paper and watched the Today show. I started to organize the grocery list and plan our meals for the week. It just popped into my head that I wanted to make baked beans. I grew up with my Vava's baked bean recipe and decided I would tackle that this evening. After talking to my mom and learning that those beans literally take a day to cook, I needed a plan B. My mom told me to grab the family cookbook she compiled and told me about a recipe for Calico Beans...I took a peek...and Calico Baked Beans it was for dinner last night!

This recipe was super easy and a little short cut from having beans bake in your oven all day. We had some kielbasa links from our meat CSA that we buy from a local farm, and these beans make a great sidekick to the kielbasa!

Fresh out of the oven.... 

Calico Baked Beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

1 can of baked beans (any brand goes...I used regular Bush's Baked Beans)

1/2 cup of ketchup

1/4 cup of light brown sugar

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 small onion (diced)

8oz ground beef or turkey*

Preheat over to 350. In a lightly oiled skillet, saute meat and onion until the meat is almost cooked through.

Open and drain the kidney and garbanzo beans. Add those as well as the can of baked beans (do not drain or rinse the baked beans). Then add the remaining ingredients- ketchup, sugar, and vinegar. Cook for 3 or4 minutes until all ingredients are combined.

Transfer to a casserole dish and cook uncovered for approximately 30 minutes. (you can take a tiny taste of the beans and see if they're soft enough for your liking)

Just a note...the original recipe calls for 1lb of ground beef. I used some ground white turkey meat instead and used only about 1/2 lb to cut down on the calories a bit. As you can see from the picture above..I thought my beans were beefy enough with only half the meat!

Enjoy!