Practical Footwear Girl

You're getting a lot of practical outfits from me these days, I know. But since I quit going to a corporate setting each day my wardrobe has definitely become more casual and the footwear has become more practical. I have several pairs of platform heels that have long left my closet and went on to Goodwill heaven. I did keep several pairs of my most favorite heels in practical colors like black and gray. 

A lot of the time you will see me in a tunic, a long sweater or long top with leggings and boots! Sometimes I even wear a skirt as a dress over leggings! And you know what? That's ok. When you find something that works for you and works for your body type it's ok to repeat it!

Scarves are an excellent, cheap and colorful accessory. They can update an outfit in a flash when you're rushing to get out the door! This is the second time I've worn this plaid blanket scarf that I picked up with my beautiful cousin Emily one Saturday afternoon. (P.S. I wish she was my sister. I look to her for life inspiration! She is so smart! She is so fit and even did a Spartan race!) It is a commitment to wear a blanket scarf let me tell you. You've got to fix it just right or it will bother the heck out of you all day. AND I cannot wear my hair down with one either. That's just way too much. I feel like I am wearing a neck brace and smothering at the same time! I'll try to do a video for you guys for how to wrap a blanket scarf in the least suffocating way! Seriously!

Outfit details:
Sweater: Thrifted
Leggings: Etc consignment Shoppe, Hue brand
Boots: Steve Madden
Scarf: Altar'd State

Green Plaid Girl

This lovely little plaid ruffle top has been in the sew pile for months because it needed...a button. Yep. Just needed ONE button and it took a half of a year for me to complete that task. Terrible. Just terrible. 

My second terrible award goes to these pants. I think... I am over them. The crotch is just...weird! I'm already having to wear a belt with them because they don't fit correctly in the waist. Come to think of it they never really sit right and I end up just looking boxy in them. Bye Bye pants! 

Outfit details:

Coat: Etc Consignment

Top: Thrifted Eddie Bauer

Pants: Gap

Boots: Seychelles

Slushy Slush Girl

And enter in the slushy junk that is left behind by the big snow storm! YAY! It's always 3 or 4 days of making sure I wear shoes that can put up with nasty, white, salty, slush on them. I love this outfit except for the shoes! Since I don't need to hike though 10 inches of snow (like last Sunday), I chose not to wear my Sorels but still needed something waterproof and safe. I also wanted to show off these cute little black and white camp socks that I steal from my hubby pretty much every other day! That left this pair of brown hiking boots and my LL Bean Hunting boots, which are navy. I went with the hiking boots because I really wasn't feeling adding navy to this outfit. They serve their purpose well as hiking boots but I kinda wish they were black for this outfit. I know, I know, I should really only be caring whether or not they grip the ground well enough to keep me from slipping. That's why I'm not wearing any of my slick soled black boots. Buuuuttttt....it would look better with something like this: 

Another thing to go on my wishlist! 

Outfit Details:

Flannel: Woolrich (Christmas gift - thanks B!)

Ponte Leggings: H&M (in the store last season. These are nice and thick!)

Socks: Eddie Bauer

Boots: HiTec (similar)
Scarf: Old Navy (last season)

Something Tasty {2 Cheap & Easy Dinner Ideas}

I'm all for finding recipes that use 5 ingredients or less, that are easy on the pocketbook and are easy to throw together. Plus, these two recipes happen to come in under 300 calories per serving!

 Two super easy and super cheap meals that really work for me and my family. Oh and they're tasty too! I wanted to share them with you and pass on the love!

Have you ever made split pea soup? It is about the easiest and cheapest meal I have on my roster. A 16 ounce bag of dried peas is less than a dollar, the chicken stock is around three dollars, and if you want to use a ham bone, those are around two dollars or less! I get at least 6 servings out of one crockpot. That's about $1 a serving. It will feed us all for dinner and then leftovers for lunch the next day. The ham bone gives it almost like a smokey flavor but you could leave that out if you wanted to. You could use veggie stock instead and keep it meat free.



So here's the basics for Split Pea and Ham Bone Soup:

Ingredients:
16 oz bag dried peas
4 cups chicken broth
ham bone (optional)
garlic powder, onion powder, s&p (optional)
***approx 250 calories per serving***

1. Sort through your peas and make sure to toss out any hard ones

2. Add chicken stock and ham bone to the peas in the crockpot. I also like to add some garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper.

Cook for about 6 - 8 hours. I remove the ham bone first, get the meat off and then add it back to soup. You can use an immersion blender to blend together but I just stir it and it comes together!

At this point it is not so pretty as the bright green peas it started out as but it's tastier!

I like to serve it with a grilled cheese sammie or a side salad.
 Each serving is about 250 calories so you will feel good about indulging in this creamy soup! If you're thinking....ewwwwww peas! Green soup are you kidding me? Just try it...I know you'll love it.

The second easy meal is a recipe I found on Pinterest a few years back and have just kept in my brain for those days that I want to have what smells and tastes like a Sunday dinner but can be made in 20 minutes on a busy Monday night!


Here are the basics on Roast Beef and Potato Rolls:

Ingredients:
6 - 8 oz Sliced Roast Beef
2 -3 cups mashed potatoes
brown gravy (make your own or buy pre-made) to make your own bring beef stock to a boil and add cornstarch to thicken. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder
 4 oz shredded cheese (optional)
***approx 214 calories per serving***

Start with good quality sliced roast beef. You could cook your own, buy it from your butcher, whatever your heart desires. I kept this one on budget and used Oscar Mayer Natural Roast Beef (no added yucky stuff). I like the beautiful red color - it wasn't nasty brown!

Go ahead and have your mashed potatoes ready to go. Make your own or use instant. Whatever works for you. I won't judge you! There is no need to salt them or add butter or anything.

You're making a little roast beef and tater burrito!

Add your roast beef and potato rolls to a 9 x 13 pan that you sprayed with cooking spray. Line them all up cute and snuggly like.

When you're done with lining up your rolls, pour your beef gravy over the top. I like making my own because I can control the ingredients/sodium/etc. You could omit the gravy all together if you wanted to,

Should look a little something like this. You can stop at this point and put them in the oven now. Or you can add some cheese to the top.

This is about 4 ounces of low fat cheddar.

Pop in a 350 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes.

I cut it into 6 squares. Each square is about 214 calories.

I serve this with a nice big pile of green beans and a salad! I like how the protein, dairy and veggie are all contained into one roll! You might be saying...potatoes?! They're not good for me. But hey - even white potatoes have been added to Whole30. They're not as bad as you think they are! It's what you do with the potato that makes it worse for you...deep frying, etc.

Thanks for letting me share! Let me know if you try either one!

Snowflake Girl

We celebrated our first significant snowfall of the season this weekend. I'd say we ended up with about  8 - 10 inches. My son was at his dad's house so it was a great time for me and B to be on a cabin retreat so to speak. I did clean the house - but minimally. Friday is my cleaning day anyway. I cooked little uncomplicated meals, caught up on blog reading and got in my two T25 workouts on Friday (like Shaun T makes me) so that the rest of the weekend could be even more relaxing. I can't say my eating was clean the entire time but I tried to be as good as possible when your on a mini blizzard staycation! I shared a few of my meals on my insta at @jessicauwnc if you would like to follow along! I plan to have a post soon on my fitness essentials too!

Outfit details:

Sweater: Thrifted, Goodwill

Leggings: Amazon

Snow Boots: Sorel

Blanket Scarf Girl

I got a great deal on two blanket scarves a few weeks before Christmas while I was shopping with my sweet cousin in at the Altar'd State store in Biltmore Park. I've worn them a few times here and there but I've not really been able to thoroughly enjoy them until now because the temperature has really dropped! Brrrr! Oh my goodness. 

On a different note, I believe I am saying farewell to this dress. I love it BUT it feels more like a sack than a dress. I can't sit down in it without it getting so wrinkled that it looks like I picked it up off the floor to put it on. Not that those kind of things don't happen from time to time - hey - don't judge - but that's not the case here. I swear! Farewell little denim number. We've had fun! But now you can be someone else's headache!

Outfit Details:

Denim Dress (a very wrinkled one I must admit): Thrifted

Boots: Steve Madden

Scarf: Altar'd State

It's Finally Sweater Weather Girl

Outfit details:

Sweater: Target

Faux Leather Leggings: Kohls

Boots: Seychelles

Bag: Versona

Well whaddayaknow it was finally chilly enough to wear a sweater today! I have had my eye on this sweater at Target for a while and my hubby saw it on my wish list and got it for me for Christmas. Win! Hey! Wish lists are awesome at getting what you want! 

However, I don't know if I would recommend it because it is shedding like crazy! Lots of white hairs everywhere! I never got to really see it in person. I had only ran across it online. I'm thinking I will try to wash it to see if it helps? We'll see. I have a feeling this may be one of those sweaters that pills really easily and leaves all those little yarn balls all over. Ahhh!!! That is really the only con. The pros are that it is very warm and I love the design. It is also nice and long so you can wear it with leggings.

Here's another present that I'm super excited about! A fitbit Surge! I'm so excited to start using it! I'm always having to use my phone to guesstimate how many calories I've burned during workouts or how far I have walked - which doesn't help at all when it's the treadmill. Plus I'm really curious about the sleep tracking too. Yay! Do you have one? Do you love it or did the new wear off?

Happy 2016!