Are you tired of people coming to your house and telling you your egg-cooking-skills are downright abysmal?  Well, look no further friends, I have the perfect way to redeem your street cred:  faux poached eggs.  Now, these aren't your typical poached eggs.  Those require skill and patience to master.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  These are simple.  Anyone can do it.  Seriously.  Anyone...well, kind of.

They look just like the real deal, and taste like boiled eggs and fried eggs had a baby.  Here's how:


Place a piece of saran wrap over a small container.  The container has to be big enough to hold a broken egg.


Push in the saran wrap so that when you break the egg into the container, it will be nested safely.


Add your egg.


Twist the top of the saran wrap.  Fold over the top and impale it with a kabob stick.


Place the kabob stick over a boiling water bath.  Do not worry.  The plastic will not melt.  The egg should be done between 3-5 minutes, depending on how cooked you want it.  To remove the egg from the plastic, simply rub a butter knife gently between the egg and the plastic.  It should pop out easily if the egg is fully cooked.  Enjoy!

Linking to:
Young House Love 
Momnivore's Dilemma 
House of Hepworths

I have had the most eventful past couple of days.  First of all, I finally changed my blogger template.  Please let me know in the comments or e-mail if you absolutely hate the new features and I will try my best to alter whatever is making you so unhappy.  In other similar news, isn't it pretty?!  I was so scared to mess my template up beyond repair, so it took me about two weeks to pull the trigger and finally upload the new template with its minor modifications.  I still want to add a couple of more features, but I think that for the moment, I will leave my blog as is...ask me again in the weekend.

Because I have had a busy couple of weeks, I have not had a significant amount of time to look at all presentable, which is why there have been no outfit posts.  For the first time in my whole life, I have actually found myself leaving the house without makeup. 

Word. 

Usually, you can't pry me from my house without at least foundation, since my long battle with acne did leave me with some marks that are still healing.  Also, umm...vanity.  Duh.  Well, I have been too busy to care, and you know what, nobody threw rocks at me or ran away screaming in horror, so, it's all good...

On Monday we had crazy gusts of wind here in Austin that brought along a little cold front, and I was inspired to do a little project I had been meaning to get to for a long time.  I love this gray jacket, which I purchased from Forever 21 almost ten years ago, but the hook closure it has on the front as decoration looked so cheap to me.  All I did was take a tiny blade to the thread adhering the closures to the jacket.  It looks a lot more mature and non-high school Linda likey....

...but sometimes you can love something just as much.  Welcome to my new, weekly segment of Thrifty Thursday!  ....actually...this whole blog should be a thrifty Thursday because living on pennies definitely does not allow for me to go and buy me some Chanel...but I don't think I would want to.  For one pair of Chanel shoes, I could buy hundreds of other shoes...I digress...

As my sister's overexcited students say, LOOKIT!!!



Please know that my intentions with these segments are not to show off, but to encourage others to venture out into the thrifting world.  At worst, all you will lose is time.  At best, you will leave with something really gorgeous for really cheap.  Come join us.  We have fur jackets.

Happy Valentine's Day Lovers!!!  May you get lots of flowers, chocolates, and kisses!  Here's a really sweet short film that I love in celebration of the day.

{Number 2}

{Number One}

 Regardless of whether I liked it or not, please go check this place out.  I am an incredibly picky eater because of my sensitive stomach.  This restaurant is so beautiful and unique that it is worth the trip.  Besides, how many people can say that they have actually tasted real ramen...in Texas...

 Oh. My. Gosh.  I had always wanted to make a cake like this.  Even time I saw this, I just died of jealousy because no matter how delicious my cakes were, lace collars make them look 100X better.  Mine looked like the ugly stepsister in comparison, so I finally bit the bullet.  You know what??  It was incredibly easy, so easy, in fact, that I may do a tutorial on it, and then we can all make our cakes look incredibly fancy for pennies.

Linking to:
Simply Sweets by Honey Bee

Persian Kitten- Houston, Texas I am planning on making some significant changes to the blog layout over the weekend.  I hope you guys like it...and are patient while I work out the glitches since I know zero about html.  Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Last week I started experimenting by adding foods back into my diet that I had been restricted from.  I will spare you the results of these experiments, but please know that this is NOT a low FODMAP meal. 

With that said, this is probably the meal I miss the most of anything that I have had to cut out of my diet.  I love this salad.  My sisterfromanothermother Stephanie first introduced me to it.  Her stay-at-home dad would make it for her all the time.  Once I tasted this, I ate this every day for about two months before I got sick.  True story.

I would eat it alone or with a side or steak, fish, turkey...you name it, this will go well with it.  If you are having a busy week, make a lot of it and simply throw some slices of ham or turkey on top for a super healthy and delicious meal.

For about two years, I struggled with acne, which I think were clearly related to the onset of my stomach issues.  I tried everything.  I realize now that I may have become a little obsessed with the issue.  I mean, if this was my biggest problem, then obviously I had a good life, but acne can really mess with your self-confidence.  Thankfully, I seem to have everything under control now, so here is a list of some of the things that I use:

1.  One Source Pure Performance Vitamin:  It is important to make sure that your skin has all the nutrients it needs in order to heal properly.  Additionally, some vitamin deficiencies can cause the skin to break out.

2.  Carlson Cod Liver Oil:  Cod liver oil is a miracle worker for the immune system.  When I take this, my skin heals much faster than normal.

3.  Dan's Regimen:  This has saved my skin.  I tried Proactive, birth control pills, and almost everything available at the pharmacy.  Nothing worked.  In fact, every time I tried something new, it seemed to just challenge my skin to bring it, and, I'll tell you, my skin brought it.  It took months with this program for me to see a noticeable difference, but it worked,e and I can finally concentrate on healing the damage that my skin has undergone.  Yayyyyyy!!!

4.  Josie Maran Argan Oil:  There's a lot of hype right now with argan oil.  Everybody seems to love it.  I couldn't agree more.  If you have a wound, put argan oil on it.  If you have a burn, put argan oil on it.  If you have dry hair, put argan oil on it.  You get the gist.  This stuff is awesome.

5.  Avalon Organics Vitamin C Renewal Cream:  I use this as my day moisturizer.  It does not have SPF because it tends to break me out.  It moisturizes my skin without turning it into an oil slick.

6.  Lansinoh Lanolin Nipple cream:  Okay.  When my sisters saw this there were some gasps...I actually use this for chapped lips.  My lips bleed and crack even in the summer.  I put this on at night, and it helps tremendously.  Do not buy it online!  It is about $10 at Target.

7.  Nature's Gate Oh What a Night:  Because of the benzoyl peroxide I put on my face, I end up having really dry and flaky skin.  This stuff is so incredibly moisturizing that it takes care of most of the dryness.  I was so lucky to find this lotion.  I put it on at night and wake up with smooth skin that makeup goes on smoothly.

8.  Johnson's Baby Oil Gel:  I love this stuff.  Generally speaking, most moisturizers upset me.  I don't have incredibly dry skin, but lotions do not hydrate enough.  With this oil, my elbows have never been softer.  I apply it every night after the shower.