Tried It Tuesday

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a nice weekend! I didn't really try too many new things this past week, but I'm going to share a few of the things that I did try! Again, like always, I've got a nice, random assortment of fun things that I've enjoyed to tell you about! And one thing that I didn't like (but it's because it gave me headaches); if chocolate doesn't give you headaches like me, then you probably will love it (boo, migraines!). So here we go! Happy Tuesday!

Oh, and by the way, I do have a lot of food today on my Tried It Tuesday list!!

Food

Annie's Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

This past Saturday, Bjorn and I had a bunch of things to get done. We were both running around, and by the time we knew it, it was 6:30, and we needed to eat! I had to stop at Target for a few necessities and I decided to peruse the food isles, searching for something interesting to eat. Low and behold, I found this Annie's Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese in the frozen food isle. Holy goodness, this was delicious! It was filling and yummy! And each serving has a 1/2 cup of vegetables. I grabbed some broccoli and some Pacific Organic Tomato soup, and we called it dinner. Quick and easy and done!

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Bacon Jam

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Oh my goodness! Where have I been? I think bacon jam is my new favorite food! I can imagine all these new ways to use it in my cooking: on top of burgers, with scallops (I'll share below), on eggs for breakfast, on pizza, and I could go on! I do love bacon--my husband can vouch for that! We have a disagreement in our house about how bacon should be cooked! My husband likes it cooked so that it's chewy and fatty, but my grandma always cooked it until it was nice and crispy. I like eating it that way! So now we kind of cook it until it's right in the middle, so we both can enjoy a little of our favorite bacon!

So, anyhoo, bacon jam! It.is.amazing! You have to try it! We went out with some of our friends over the weekend to Dilly Deli for drinks and appetizers. One appetizer that Bjorn and I got was pan seared sea scallops with butternut squash puree and bacon jam. I was seriously doing everything except licking the plate to scrape every last bit of goodness off of there! I was scooping it up with my knife and fork, and I have to say, I did use my finger at one point! That plate was scraped clean by the time I was done!

The bacon jam added a smoky sweetness to the butternut squash. It was to die for! I found a few places that I will share where you can buy bacon jam already prepared, as well as some ways to use it. I plan on making my own as well. It does seem to be an easy recipe, but it does seem to take a little bit of time. Maybe this would make a good gift to give friends? Anybody want some bacon jam as a gift? Made with love?

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Sur La Table has a few different kinds of bacon jams or bacon spreads: original, cured, and fennel and black pepper. Each jar looks to cost around $9.95

I am positive you could find bacon jam at Whole Foods and Fresh Market and Jungle Jim's as well. I just couldn't find it online!

If you're interested in making your own, like I am, I even found a slow cooker recipe! I may even add some bourbon to Martha's slow cooker version? We shall see!

Martha Slow-Cooker Bacon Jam

Sweet and Savory Bacon Jam

Maple Bourbon Bacon Jam

Click here for some ideas about cooking with bacon jam :)

Udi's Chocolate Chia Gluten Free Muffin Tops

Bjorn, meaning well, bought these for me because he knew I would love them! I wanted to eat some more of these muffin tops for breakfast; however, they were out of all the blueberry and oat flavors. Bjorn got these instead, forgetting that I've been cutting back on chocolate because of my headaches. He felt really badly when he came home and saw my face. Temptation! It wasn't a big deal. When you wake up late with a headache, you grab whatever you can for breakfast, and eating these, gave me another headache! Too much chocolate for me! They are super delicious, so if chocolate doesn't affect you, by all means, eat 'em up! I will, however, not be keeping these in the house! They are dangerous!

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Beauty

I am a "take a shower every morning" kind of girl. And here is the reason why:

This is what I look like every morning when I wake up! Sometimes it all stands up straight like yesterday when I woke up. So, needless to say, I do not just get up and go, spray on some dry shampoo, and walk out the door. That hair right there requires water, some shampoo, and a serious lather and rinse!

I do, however, like to use dry shampoo when I am going somewhere later that evening after a long day and would like to freshen up a bit. I do tend to have oilier hair and sometimes my bangs tend to need a little freshening up. It also helps give my hair a little volume after a long day because I also have fine hair. 

I have really been having trouble finding a dry shampoo that smells nice and doesn't smell too baby-powdery and doesn't make my hair feel like I'm wearing a ton of, well, dry shampoo! I recently found one that smells like flowers and I love it! It doesn't make my hair feel chalky either. It's Batiste's Dry Shampoo in the Floral and Flirty Scent. They have all kinds of different scents. I got mine on sale at Walgreens for $5.99. I really like it. I did have to rub it in a little to make it disappear, but I am overall extremely happy with the scent and very happy with the texture.

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Movie

Bjorn and I have been into watching movies lately. I'm glad I'm back into the swing of watching movies! It's one thing Bjorn and I love to do together! It's the first time since my dad passed away that watching intense movies hasn't brought up my anxiety. I don't know what the connection is, but it's nice to be able to enjoy a movie again.

Last week we watched Flight. And let me tell you, I love Denzel Washington!! I have loved watching him and his movies since I was in high school. He is a fabulous actor. And Flight is no exception! What an intense movie! I kind of knew what the premise of the movie was, so once the plan went down towards the beginning, I told Bjorn, "Wait, how come the plan is crashing so soon? The movie just started!" He then informed me that most of the movie is about the investigation that follows the plan crash. Thank goodness I have Bjorn, right?

Here's the trailer in case you're interested in watching!

App

Okay, I'm not a big app person, but I tried a new free app, and I'm kind of really liking it! Of course, it's a picture taking app, which are one of the only ones I download. And it's free, which is another kind of app I only download. It's called Frontback. Have any of you tried it? It's super fun! First you take a picture of something that you're looking at with the regular "front" camera. Then you can take a picture of yourself and what you're doing at that moment or something that's happening from your "back" camera. I think it's pretty cool!

My blog and me writing my blog! 

Not a great one, but it shows the premise of the app!

Well, there are the things that I've tried this week! Hope you enjoyed!

What have your tried this week?

Love and happiness <3 Holly