Yummy, Yummy Campfire Hash!

As a weight watcher, I often crave the finer things in life...namely sweets and breakfast food. Yes, I am allowed to have both things, but obviously in moderation. This morning, whilst thumbing through an old issue of Martha Stewart living (June 2011 to be exact) I found this irresistible looking recipe for a Campfire Hash. It contained everything that is right with breakfast food: potatoes, bacon, and a fried egg. Mmmmm....So, I went to my WW Recipe Builder app and entered the recipe...and as it turns out, it was doable. 10 points, kind of high for brunch, but since our dinner is also going to be ten points tonight, and this was brunch, I could afford it. So, I set to work. I adapted the recipe for one, since my fiance is kind of crazy and doesn't like bacon...pshhhh. I also added some southwestern touches: green chile and my homemade salsa that we had boatloads of from taco night on Thursday. Here's the original recipe, with my changes noted:

Martha Stewart Living, June 2011

• Prep Time40 minutes
• Total Time40 minutes
• YieldServes 4

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Ingredients

• 1 pound baby Yukon Gold potatoes (for one, I used one medium sized red potato, what I had in the fridge)
• 8 ounces sliced bacon (I just used two slices to keep the pointage down)
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil (didn't use, the bacon grease was enough to cook everything)
• 8 large eggs (or, just one ;-) 
• 3 scallions, chopped (didn't have any, so I omitted) 
• 1 green chile, chopped
• Homemade salsa (a bunch of garden fresh tomatoes, a jalapeno, garlic, salt, and a healthy handful of cilantro, mixed together in a food processor) 

Directions

1. Cook potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain.
2. Cook bacon in a cast-iron skillet set over a campfire or on a medium-high grill, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon, let cool slightly; crumble.
3. Add potatoes to skillet, lightly smash each using the back of a spoon, and cook until just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir crumbled bacon into skillet. Push hash to one side of skillet.
4. Working in batches, and adding oil as needed, crack 2 eggs into skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook until desired. Stir scallions into hash. Serve eggs with hash.

The outcome!!!!!!!!!

This was especially good this morning, as it is the first day it has felt like fall. Stay tuned for an outfit post from this day I've been waiting for! :-) 

Weight Watchers Blue Cheese Chicken Burgers

Hello all! So, as I mentioned before, I am currently trying to lose weight, to get back to my personal best (or even beyond) for my upcoming wedding and honeymoon! A few weeks ago, I rejoined Weight Watchers. As of last Sunday, I had almost lost 6 pounds...but I still have at least 10 to go, and as I said more if I can. We've been enjoying some great healthy recipes around here lately, and tonight was no exception. I found this recipe for Blue Cheese Chicken Burgers through weightwatchers.com and it was so delicious that everyone should give it a try. I omitted the celery though (blech) and added a point by adding 1 tbsp of blue cheese dressing to the top of mine. 

Recipe courtesy of Weight Watchers. I didn't decide to blog about the burgers until AFTER we had eaten them, so I apologize for the lack of photos. These burgers are 8 points plus, if you do Weight Watchers. 

Ingredients

	2 spray(s) cooking spray
	1/4 cup(s) barbecue sauce (I actually just used Frank's Red Hot, and more on top. It's zero points)
	1 pound(s) uncooked extra lean ground chicken breast
	1/2 cup(s) uncooked scallion(s), sliced
	1/4 cup(s) uncooked celery, chopped   (OMITTED FROM OURS...BLECH! ;-)
	1/4 cup(s) dried plain breadcrumbs
	2 tsp minced garlic
	1/2 tsp table salt
	4 item(s) mixed-grain hamburger roll(s)
	2 cup(s) romaine lettuce, shredded
	1 large fresh tomato(es), cut into 8 slices
	2 Tbsp blue cheese, crumbled

Instructions

• Off heat, coat a grill or grill pan with cooking spray; preheat to medium-high.
• In a small bowl, combine barbecue sauce and hot pepper sauce. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, 1 tablespoon of barbecue sauce mixture, scallion, celery, breadcrumbs, garlic and salt. Using wet hands (to prevent mixture from sticking), form chicken mixture into four 1/2-inch-thick patties; brush top of burgers with some remaining barbecue sauce mixture.
• Place burgers on grill, sauce side down; brush tops of burgers with remaining sauce. Grill, turning once, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Lightly toast open-faced buns on grill during last minute of cooking.
• To serve, place 4 bun bottoms on each of 4 plates. Top each with 1/2 cup of shredded lettuce, 2 tomato slices, a burger, 1/2 tablespoon of cheese and a bun top (cheese will melt a little from hot burger). Yields 1 burger per serving.

They were really delicious. I cooked up some Alexia Sea Salt and Pepper Sweet Potato Fries (highly recommended, 4 points for THIRTY PIECES!) and doused those with Frank's too, for the heck of it. 

Ruffles and Pink

I really need help lately. I had my coral and mint shopping spree at the end of July, then had another mini spree last weekend, and then this morning had a Forever 21 online spree. Hey, they were having a Buy One Get One Free sale! It goes on until tomorrow, so check it out if you can! Anyway, there should be a lot of new outfits to post about in the coming weeks. I can't wait to see my new stuff when it comes in. I might also have picked up a pair of brown riding boots on DSW.com, coughs....

Back to the ruffles and pink. This Forever 21 top is one that I picked up last weekend. It is cute, but not a color that I usually gravitate towards. Too neutral, but I am trying to stray out of my comfort zone and tone it down every once in awhile. I actually love blush pink (it is an accent color at my wedding!), I just don't think I look great in it. Love this shirt, though...and I wanted to take a close up of it so everyone could see the pretty ruffles:

The color is way off in this picture; my outfit pic shows the true color a lot better:

As you can see, I played with pairing this with a blue necklace, but it didn't look right to me. So, I reached for my faux pearls.

Top: Forevcr 21, last weekend. Can't find it online, but it was in stores.

Jeans: American Eagle Jegging, here. Can I just rave about how much I LOVE AE jeggings?

Necklace: Burlington Coat Factory...yeah, I get a LOT of jewelry there....

Oh, and the shoes! These are Rampage, sometime last year, and they are probably the most uncomfortable pumps I own. But, I keep coming back for more abuse...

You too can get abused by going to ebay and buying them. Fashion can be pain, people...but they're so cute....

A New Start

Hello, future readers (I hope!) I have been inspired by Pinterest to create a new blog. I have done a bit of food blogging in the past, but would like to get more in depth, add a lot of fashion, and maybe even some stuff about my new weight loss journey. I will start off short and sweet, by posting an outfit I wore to pub trivia last night. I am SUPER into the whole coral and turquoise combination that seems to be hot these days. I bought a ton of coral, turquoise, and mint pieces about a month ago. Here's a tribute to that shopping trip: I paired a lacy peach top from Forever 21 with dark skinnies and my new coral flats. I chose a turquoise necklace to add another pop of color.  As summer turns to fall, I would love to play with this top: belt it, maybe, and add a blazer. 

 Sorry for the fact that these were taken in my kitchen...I had my fiance shoot these minutes before we left the house. 

LOVE my new coral/orangey flats. I picked these up at a local shoe warehouse this weekend. 

Top: Forever 21, late July (Similar, but sleeveless, here
Jeans: Old
Necklace: Burlington Coat Factory
Shoes: Blowfish, August 2012 (Similar here)