Family * Travel * Food

Kicked-up Baked Beans (Easy Weeknight Recipe)

Need a quick meal idea for the work week? Try my easy Kicked-up Baked Beans and have a hearty meal on the table with minimal effort. 

Ingredients:
2 Cans of Bush's Grillin' Beans (I use 1 Bourbon & Brown Sugar and 1 Steakhouse Recipe)
Andouille Sausage (or your favorite sausage) cut in small chunks
2 tbsp very finely diced onion
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp garlic powder
cracker pepper to taste
1 tbsp brown sugar
a few dashes of Cajun seasoning  (I like Tony Chachere's)

Heat oven to 375 degree. Place beans in the bottom of a casserole dish. Add sausage and remaining ingredients. Lightly stir to combine everything. Bake for about 30-35 minutes. Enjoy over your favorite rice.

You can easily adjust any of the ingredients to your liking. Andouille is spicy so you have to go easy on which seasonings you add. Let me know if you try this recipe.
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Winter Storm Pax and a little earthquake to shake things up a bit | Winter 2014 in SC

February has been a very, very interesting month. We have lived in South Carolina for over 16 years and have experienced all four seasons, our share of storms and everything in between (so we thought). We had our second snow storm hit this last week which is quite rare for SC. Normally snow for us is maybe an inch or some flurries. Not this time, we had 4 inches of sleet, snow, freezing rain, snow, sleet and more freezing rain, in that order!
I am sure we are being laughed at from the Northerners about our little 4 inches of the frozen stuff. Laugh all you want. This does NOT happen here!
Of course our entire state for the most part was shut down. Everyone was urged to stay indoors for good reason. Our state is not equipped to handle snow and ice. Snow plows and sand/salt trucks are very few and rarely needed. The biggest scare for us was the ice situation. I know that most of the rural areas lost power and had a lot of fallen trees and even structures collapsed. I am so thankful that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Besides the inconvenience of not being able to leave the house for 3 days, we got through it. I am one of those Southerners who run to the grocery store to stock up on extra items, and for good reason! At least we had a lot of good things to snack on and lots of firewood covered up in tarp out back in the event we had to use it. It's better to be overly prepared in my opinion.
My husband cleaned our cars off before anything else added to what was on there. I watched him push huge sheets of frozen precipitation off. It was amazing! We even had to shovel our front deck and steps. Of course, living in the south, we don't have an actual snow shovel. We used traditional garden shovels and even dust pans. Hey, we had to make do with what we had!
Don't I look like I am floating in this photo? I was standing on top of frozen grass. We had to be careful because it was very slippery. I am not an ice skater, that's for sure! I felt so badly for the neighborhood dogs as they struggled to walk or stand up on the ice.
William wanted to play in the snow, but unfortunately, it wasn't that type of snow. He did enjoy exploring outside and making tracks in the crunchy ground.

We are lucky that the temperatures are rising and everything is melting pretty quickly. Later next week, we are looking at seeing temps in the upper 70's. We thought we were done with the crazy weather until last night. Valentine's night 2014 will never be forgotten. Many of us in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina felt an earthquake for the very first time. Although it was very quick and a 4.4, it was enough to scare us silly. Facebook and Twitter exploded with updates about the earthquake. I know our California friends were amused!

Hopefully the weather will start to improve for everyone. I really feel for my friends living out in states that are getting hit super hard by storm after storm. I can't imagine living in that. What has the weather been like where you live?
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Playing with my later-in-life curls with Ouidad

For the first 35 years of my life, I had the most straight hair. It was so straight that I could wash it, let it air-dry and it would come out completely silky-straight. Now that I'm 40, it's safe to say that my hormones have changed and it has affected my hair quite a bit. I now have some loose curls and waves that have to be tamed for my hair to look neat. I received some products from Ouidad for review. 
Pictured are; Ouidad's PlayCurl Volumizing Stying Spray and Ouidad Salon Series Mongongo Mulit-use Oil Treatment. 

I decided to test out the PlayCurl volumizing spray to see what it would do to my hair. I washed and conditioned my hair with some Ouidad products I have from a previous review and sprayed my towel-dried hair with the PlayCurl product. I then very lightly diffused my hair, but left it pretty damp to finish off air drying. This is the result....
I really love how more defined my waves are and my hair had a lot of body and volume. Even my husband noticed my fuller hair! I have also used the spray to blow dry with and it adds a nice boost of volume. I really like it. I do still have some straighter parts, but the extra volume seems to mask it well. 

My older daughter tried out the Mongongo Oil Treatment in her hair. She has been trying to maintain her natural curls and has had the hardest time finding a good moisturizer. She applied the treatment into towel-dried hair and lightly diffused. Here is the end result. Gorgeous, huh? After using the product for 2 weeks, she is still happy with it and says it really works. 
You can find these Ouidad products on the Oiudad website and at ULTA stores. The PlayCurl Volumizing Styling Spray comes in a 8.5 ounce bottle and retails for $22. The Mongongo Oil treatment comes in 2 ounces for $36 and 4 ounces for $58. 

You can also find Ouidad on Facebook and Twitter. There are some great tutorials for curls of all kinds on their website and Youtube channel. 

I received complimentary products samples in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own. 

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Kiss My Face Peace Soap Review

Kiss My Face has come out with a 100% natural castile soap called Peace Soap. I received a 17 ounce bottle in the Lemongrass Clary Sage soap. I was hesitant at first when I saw that "sage" was in the name. I was pleasantly surprised that it smelled amazing, just like fresh cut lemongrass. My husband and kids all love it. I have the bottle in the kitchen and I keep finding my family going in there just to use this soap. 
Getting back to basics, the Kiss My Face Peace Soap is a castile soap formulated with 100% natural ingredients including olive, coconut and jojoba oils.  Castile soap is a safe and gentle substitute for traditional soaps that often contain harsh ingredients.  This simple Kiss My Face formulation is biodegradable, environmentally friendly and can clean just about anything!  

Peace Soap Key Features:

-100% natural castile soap made with the soothing strength of olive oil and the softening power of coconut
-Free of parabens, SLS and phthalates
-10% of the profits will support the Seeds of Peace organization, which brings teenagers together from opposite sides of conflict for a one of a kind leadership and conflict resolution training
-No animal ingredients or testing
-Available in Grassy Mint, Lemongrass Clary Sage, Lavender Mandarin and Pomegranate Acai
-Available in 3 sizes – a travel friendly 3.4 oz, 8 oz and 17 oz

Be sure to connect with Kiss My Face on Facebook. You can learn more about Seeds of Peace here.

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Kiss My Face Oral Care for Kids

I received a sample tube of Kiss My Face Kids Toothpaste without Fluoride to test out. I love that the tube reads, "Obsessively Natural Kids" on top. My husband has been researching natural brands of health and beauty products, especially for little William.
I have to admit, the first time William tried this toothpaste, he didn't like it. It took him about 3 or 4 brushings for him to get used to it. He has been using it for about 6 weeks now and has no complaints. I am happy to find something that I feel good about him using. 

Kiss My Face Kids Berry Smart Toothpaste

·         Cleans teeth and gums naturally

·         Cranberry, aloe and tea tree extracts promote a healthy mouth

·         A berry flavor kids will love

·         Available with and without fluoride

·         $5.95 for 4 oz

You can find Kiss My Face oral care products at Whole Foods, Natural Supermarkets and at Kissmyface.com. I have even seen some of the product line at my local Publix supermarket.  Be sure to connect with Kiss My Face on Facebook for product updates and information. 

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