It’s been a while, I know. Remember how I set that goal to blog every day this year? What the fuck was I thinking? That was never going to happen, and I think we all knew it. I always start out with the best of intentions and somehow fuck shit up along the way. I started a 52 weeks photo project too. And then gave it up a few weeks in. I don’t know if I’d consider this just a quitters mentality or maybe I’m setting myself up to fail. Either way, both goals have been shot, gutted, and served up on a platter. Too graphic?

See, my whole life is like this. I have the greatest goals and never seem to follow through with any of them. I’ll say to myself, “This is the year that I finally keep the house tidy.” It’s almost May and I haven’t folded laundry once all year. It sits in baskets in the laundry room or on our bedroom floor and we just pull from them. Our dressers are empty. We live like traveling salesmen, only we stay in the same place and our suitcases are replaced with 99 cent baskets from a big box store.

I’ve made cleaning schedule after cleaning schedule. I stick to them for about a week and then something in my brain says, “Well, you’ve given it a go…” and I start slacking off again. My house isn’t dirty by any means. But it’s not company ready at the drop of a hat. And I guess that’s ok, but growing up in a family of anal retentive clean machines has always led me to believe that your house must be spotless to be worth a damn. I am missing this gene. Too much like my dad I suppose.

It’s almost like my entire life is made up of failed New Year’s resolutions. But the year changes monthly and I never end up doing much of anything.

I want to be a mom. Of course, it’s the one thing that has always made sense to me. Kids. I get kids. I’m great with kids, especially babies. I’ve done the research and made plans and worked really fucking hard, thank you very much. At least the roadblocks with this one aren’t entirely because of my failure to complete projects. At least I can blame part of this on something other than myself.

But then there’s also the part of me that could do something about this. I could help fix it and I know how and I have the tools to do it… but I don’t. Change is the hardest thing to do as a human and I guess I’m just acting my species.

I don’t even know where I’m going with this. Add one more thing to the pile of unfinished business I’ve amassed.

Slow-Cooker Triple Chocolate Brownies

Slow-cooked meals often remind me of home. When I was a kid, my mom is fond of using the slow cooker to make all kinds of meals – ranging from appetizers through desserts. One favorite of mine is the Triple Chocolate Brownies. I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately, so I thought of recreating this recipe at home. Fortunately, I found a similar recipe online.

This recipe from Martha Stewart requires 11 ingredients, and takes about 3 ½ hours to cook. For those who are not comfortable leaving the brownies to cook alone in the kitchen, I suggest that you prepare an activity that can entertain you while waiting. Watching videos on YouTube and participating in social gaming sites like FoxyBingo.com through a laptop are just some of the things you can do in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 ounces)
1 cup walnut halves, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Nonstick cooking spray

Prepare a 5-quart slow-cooker insert. Coat it lightly with cooking spray, and then place a parchment paper on the bottom. Make sure that the insert is completely covered before spraying an additional layer of cooking spray on it.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a small bowl. These include flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. After that, place butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe container, and microwave in 30-second intervals. Stir after each increment, until chocolate is melted.

Add sugar to the liquid mixture, and stir to combine. Add the eggs as well. When done, combine with the dry ingredients mixture, walnuts, and chocolate chips, and stir until moistened. Do not overmix, or else you might encounter problems with the texture of the brownies.

Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Smooth the mixture’s top; cover slow cooker. Cook on low for 3 ½ hours. When done, uncover the slow cooker and cook for another 30 minutes. Remove insert and run a knife around the edges to loosen the brownies.

Place the brownies on a wire rack, and let them cool for 2 hours. The brownies’ center appears undercooked at first, but it will become firm once completely cooled. Move them to a work surface and cut into 14 pieces. Serve.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1lb ground pork
1/2C Italian bread crumbs
1 large egg
Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
1 1/2C heavy cream
1 1/2C beef stock
Parmesan cheese
Egg noodles (can use any noodle)

Combine beef, pork, bread crumbs, egg, and ~1/2 tsp of each seasoning in a large bowl. Mix well, then form the mixture into balls. Take care to make them similar in size, this will help them cook evenly. I got 15 meatballs, but you could make them larger or smaller depending on your tastes. Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat and melt some butter in the pan. Brown the meat balls on all sides. Once browned, remove them from the pan. (Don’t worry about cooking them through, we’ll finish them off later.)

Deglaze the pan with the beef stock. To do this, keep the heat up and pour the stock in. Whisk to loosen the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is deglazed, pour in the heavy cream and whisk to combine. Let this come to a boil and then add the meatballs back into the pan.

Cook the meatballs in the cream sauce, covered, for about 5 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads at least 160 degrees. Test a few of the meatballs to be sure they’re all done. Add in ~2 handfuls of Parmesan cheese, stir to combine.

Serve over egg noodles (or other noodle, rice, whatever) with more cheese.

Enjoy!

Minted is a global community of independent graphic designers and an online store that prints and sells the best of their designs in the form of paper goods.

And holy cow, are the designs amazing. I went through and picked out a few of my favorites to share with you. Minted has everything from wall art to wedding invitations, and they’re all gorgeous.

I think if I was to have a re-wedding (vow renewal), I’d choose something like this. It’s super fun and festive, and it looks like it’s straight out of a Pinterest wedding. I’m still bummed that Pinterest wasn’t around when I got married. haha. I love the multi-colored design, and the fact that you can choose from a pre-set color palette or choose your own.

As a business owner, I know the importance of having a business card that represents your brand and stands out among a sea of plain cards. I really love the simplicity of this design. It’s different from the norm, but very understated. And like most Minted products, there are a few different color options, so it can work for your unique palette.

I absolutely love this art print. You all know I’m a Hoosier, born and raised in Indiana. The little heart over my home state makes me love the design even more. I love that you can purchase any size you need, from 7×5 all the way up to 60×44, with or without a frame.

Because Minted is awesome and so are you, we’ve teamed up to give one lucky reader a $50 gift credit for Minted, to be used on whatever you like in the store. Enter below with the Rafflecopter form!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is sponsored by Minted. I was compensated for this post. As always, all opinions are my own. 

This giveaway was made possible by the people at Conscious Box. They’re providing the prize.

Together with the awesome people at Conscious Box, I’m offering up a three month subscription to their monthly boxes! One winner will get three months of awesome, natural, eco-friendly goodies shipped to their door, free of charge. How awesome is that?

All you have to do to win is follow the directions on the Rafflecopter form below. As an added bonus, use the code DISCOVERNATURAL to get 50% off any subscription!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I don’t do hauls very often, because I don’t really buy that much. Well, I buy things, but normally I buy one or two items and that’s it. Not much of a haul. haha. But we had a little bit of extra fun money this past week, so I was able to get a few things for myself. We sold our Xbox, Wii, Gamecube, and DSi XL, plus a bunch of games and with that we purchased a new 3DS XL. (The XL’s are so much better, really.) We picked up the new Super Mario Bros 2 3D, Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D, and Starfox 64 3D. I’ve been playing Zelda a bunch. And I actually enjoy the 3D features more than I thought I would. It’s kind of crazy how you don’t need glasses for it to work.

Then I got a little makeup crazy. I decided to pick up another BB cream (or CC cream I guess, same thing!) to try, a new pressed powder, an eye shadow palette, a brown liquid eyeliner marker (so cool!) and two lipsticks. I’ve only used the eyeliner so far, and it’s awesome. I’ve got a black liner similar to it, by Mabelline, but some days you just need something less harsh.

Sunglasses from DEB were 2 for $10 (or $7.50 each. Who wouldn’t buy two?) so I grabbed these. I somehow lost my purple wayfarers (*sob*) and have yet to find a pair I like as much. But the bow ones in the back are close enough. The floral pair is OK, but I really only got them because it was a better deal to buy two and they were the best of the bunch.

This was the real reason I went to DEB. All of my camis now have one broken strap. It was time for some new ones. I got three with lace and three without, all black. I love DEB camisols. Three for $18 and they’re nice and long. 

And last but not least, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and The Woman in Black. Both were in the $7.50 Bluray bin, so I couldn’t pass them up. Willy Wonka is one of my favorites and I haven’t seen The Woman in Black yet, but I’ve heard it’s good.

And because I filmed this over the weekend and Nonna already beat me to the punch, here’s my normal makeup routine, just because.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/4 C diced red bell pepper
1 1/2 C frozen corn
1/4 C frozen spinach, thawed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2T diced jalapenos (canned or fresh)
cilantro to taste
2T diced green onions
1/2 tsp each: cumin, chili powder
dash cayenne
shredded cheese of choice (pepper jack, monterey jack)
1 egg, beaten
oil for frying
RAW flour tortillas

Preheat oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all ingredients except egg together until well combined. Lay out a tortilla and scoop in a scant 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture. Top with cheese. Brush the far side of the tortilla with egg, fold the left and right sides in and then roll from non-egg side to egg side, tucking in the corners as you go. Lay seam side down on a tray until all tortillas are filled. We got 16 rolls out of this recipe. Fry until golden brown and crispy. Then cut on the diagonal and serve with ranch dressing.

We froze most of these for later enjoyment. They are SUPER tasty!

A few weeks ago I got a new desk. At the same time, I got a new desk chair. It was a welcome change. Our old desk and chair were beyond abused. The desk had been with us since our second apartment in 2008, through two moves, and it wasn’t the worlds best desk to begin with. The chair was a Walmart special, $99. It sucked, honestly.

The new stuff is much better. The desk provides a lot more works space and just generally LOOKS a lot better. And I put the damn thing together by myself, so I’m rather proud. (Tangent: I can’t be the only one who argues with their SO every time a new piece of furniture needs assembled, can I? It’s so much easier for me to just do it myself, even if it’s difficult physically, than wait for Branden to get home and argue the whole time. Ikea should really sell marriage counselors as well as furniture, I’m sure more than a few marriages have been tested during the assembly of an Expedit or Kivik.) The chair was kind of a let down though. It’s still awesome, has a really wide seat so it’s comfy for normal people.

But I’m not normal people. I have back problems. You might remember back in January 2009, me falling down some icy steps and landing squarely on my chunky behind. That fall fractured one of my vertebrae, which then healed improperly because the ER doctor didn’t order an Xray or MRI so I really had no idea it was broken until nearly 3 years later. By that time, there was no way the liability insurance that covered my initial visit to the ER would cover any additional treatment. (The ER doc had told me it was just bruised and would get better. It never has.) My only options are surgery or grin n’ bear it.

I really don’t want surgery, so pain it is!

So I’ve been on the hunt for a butt pillow (aka, coccyx cushion) and a lumbar support to help my achin’ back during the time that I need to be at my desk. I run a business from home, which means I’m a desk jockey for a good portion of the day. Bitches need to be comfortable!

I ordered an inexpensive lumbar support on Amazon. By inexpensive I mean the shipping was $4 and that was 4x as much as the support itself. I sure do love Amazon! I tried to order a butt pillow as well, but despite not having any indication that the pillow was out of stock, Amazon was telling me that it would take until MAY to have the cushion delivered. Uh, no. Order canceled.

That still left me high and dry without a pillow for my finicky butt. I tried normal bed pillows. Thick, thin, folded, flat, rolled. Nothing helped. Most of them cut off circulation to my feet, which is INCREDIBLY annoying. I’m not sacrificing my feet for my back.

Finally a friend told me that a boppy pillow would be a good alternative. They’re available everywhere and it worked for her sister, so I was going to buy one. But then I got an email about a new nursing pillow from the same company that makes Seven Slings and Udder Covers. I’m not entirely sure how this company stays in business, because they constantly have coupons out for free products. Their shipping prices seem majorly inflated, but not enough that it would keep them afloat. I suppose I’m not complaining because I only paid $12 for this pillow and it’s working fabulously.

So now my hiney is happy and so is my back. I can sit at my awesome, lovely new desk, in my upgraded chair and not feel too much pain when I get up. Total win!

Copyright Fairhaven Health

OvaBoost was designed specifically for women over 30 and women with PCOS to improve egg quality. I fall into the latter category, and I was curious to see how OvaBoost would work for me.

I have taken OvaBoost for nearly a month now. It’s got a blend of vitamins and supplements including Vitamin E, folic acid, myo-inositol, and grapeseed extract. Other than a slightly icky aftertaste, I haven’t noticed any side effects, which is really nice. I was very happy to see that it contains myo-inositol, because myo-inositol is an excellent supplement for women with PCOS. Studies have shown that it has a very positive effect on the blood sugar and over all reproductive health. For women with PCOS, keeping blood sugar levels under control is one of the best ways to improve your chances of conceiving. That’s why many women are prescribed Metformin, a prescription drug made for diabetics. Myo-inositol can have a very similar effect, but doesn’t require a prescription to obtain. (An extra special bonus for me, since fertility treatments aren’t covered by my insurance. )

As with all high quality supplements, you’ve got to take several pills each day. With OvaBoost, you’re taking four. Fairhaven Health recommends splitting the doses up over the day. The capsules are really easy to swallow, though, so it isn’t a big deal. Just take one with each meal and right before bed.

I did ovulate while taking OvaBoost, and while I can’t credit it for the ovulation itself, I do think it made ovulation a bit stronger than normal. Unfortunately I did not get pregnant this cycle. I can chalk that up to poor timing, since we did have quite a bit going on during this cycle.

I would definitely recommend OvaBoost to my PCOS “cysters.” I think it’s a great way to give those eggies a boost. You can find OvaBoost and a lot of other great quality fertility supplements at Fairhaven Health.

OvaBoost was provided to me in exchange for review. As always, the views expressed in this review are entirely my own. I was not compensated for this review.

The Luness device was sent to me by the company for review. I was not compensated in any other way for the review. All thoughts are my own, as always. 

Most of you know that I have PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. This can manifest in many different ways depending on the person who has it, but for me it looks a little something like this: Excessive weight, male pattern hair growth (so much fun, let me tell you), extremely irregular periods, often no period at all, lack of ovulation. In the past, I’ve used progesterone to keep my cycles semi-regular. But that involves keeping up with regular OBGYN or RE visits, and that can get really expensive.

A few months ago I got an email about a new product called Luness. I was intrigued because the company claimed it could regulate your cycle by light. I was skeptical, to say the least. But I figured it was worth a shot and when I received mine in the mail, I couldn’t wait to try it.

Luness looks like a glorified computer mouse. It’s very sleek and shiny. On the top it’s a translucent white with a small round area where the regimen light shines out. There’s a rubber-like bumper around the middle, and the bottom is metallic with indicator lights and a big red button. The lights show the day of your cycle.

Luness works by shining a specific strength of light (determined by the sensor) into your room at night, which reflects off the ceiling and onto your skin. It’s meant to mimic moon light. Each night right before you fall asleep, you press the red button. The light that glows during the day (red, yellow or green, to indicate peak fertility days) fades out and the device goes dark. This gives you plenty of time to fall asleep without any light disturbing you.

About 45 minutes after the button is pressed, the light starts up. This is dependent upon which cycle day you’re on of course, but many days have a light pattern. I’ve never woken up because of the light. I’ve woken up and the light was on, but usually it’s because I have to go pee or something. (My body hates me, I wake up to go pee around noon every day no matter what.)

Luness.com

Like I said, I was skeptical that Luness would work at all. Who really thinks that their body just needs light to sync up? But I’m no longer a skeptic. I waited a few cycles before writing this review and I can honestly say that since starting Luness, I’ve had a regular, 35 day cycle. This isn’t an ideal cycle length, but since it’s far shorter than what I’ve had the past few years, I’ll take it. I went from going 6 or more months between non-medicated cycles to 35 days.

Luness retails for $169.95. Compared to a visit to the OBGYN or RE every 3 months, plus prescription costs, this seems like a bargain to me. But if you can’t swing it right now, Luness does offer an alternative for iOS device users. There’s a Luness app available for $14.95 that works in the same way. It’s a great option for travel, or if you’re unable to purchase the device.

Luness is definitely highly recommended by me. I’m so impressed with it! It’s given me regular cycles, which is more than I ever expected.

And in case you were wondering, you can totally use Luness if you do shift work. My husband and I are practically nocturnal, we sleep during the day. Our room is very dark and Luness works just fine. If you’re like us and sleep during the day, I’d suggest black out curtains to cover your window and block sunlight to get the full Luness experience.