VLOG October City Life Pt. 2 Official Holiday (Autumn Table) + Adore Me & Avon Hauls + Fitness + Easy Gluten Free/Keto 1 Pot Recipes

Happy Halloween loves! In this City Life Pt. 2 I am sharing my Holiday table setting. I plan on transitioning my Halloween Autumn themed table right into Thanksgiving. This by far is one of my best tables and I have been doing table settings for about 8 years now. I don't know if it is my love for Autumn or just the fact that everything flows. I did an Autumn table last year the turned out fabulously, but there is something about this one and I am guessing it is these chic hurricane tumblers.

I have been eyeing these tumblers for a few seasons now, but was unsure of how they would work on my small table. The most exciting thing about them is that I was finally able to utilize all these wine corks I have been saving for years.



Off to the side you will see my sheepskin rug/throw. This was another wishlist item that I had been eyeballing since my $30.00 one from Ikea got ruined. This one is a little bigger than the one that Ikea sells and the quality is better and its made to drape over things to add a chic twist. Its pricey, but a must have.

I have been interested in darling with black dinnerware since I went to this one restaurant that used them. It really adds a lot of contrast to the food and you can have some interesting plating options. I can't wait to start using these for my cooking posts and see if my creativity is piqued.

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All in all almost my whole setting is new this season, last season almost everything was from other settings.  Until I get a new table I am going to stick to settings for four instead of five because the flow is a lot better and its less crowded. I must admit I am itching to get another table- a big one and I have no where to put it. But I can imagine all of the possibilities! I am so impressed with the Hurricane Tumblers that I will most likely keep incorporating them into my next holiday tables. I have not decided if I am doing a Christmas or a New Years.

Finally, if you love my table everything is from Crate and Barrel this time, there was no mixing and matching of brands which made it way easier for me. I find that Crate and Barrel is very consistent in what they offer and if I find in the future I need to replace something or add a fifth place setting I can always go up there and find it.

IN THE CITY: 

Robert Indiana LOVE exhibit at the Tampa Museum of Art

South Tampa Humane Society Pumpkin patch

Halloween 2018

HAULS:

Once Upon a Holiday- Iconic Avon (C/O Avon)

Iconic Avon Beauty Classics Collection contains three volumes of makeup palettes.
-Eyes of wonder shadow palette (12 shadows)
-She dreams of silver shadow palette (12 shadows)
-In the blush dawn cheek palette

Shown at the bottom:
Iconic beauty vintage inspired palette in faux tortoishell case
- 4 shimmery eyeshadows
-2 blushes

Iconic Avon Lipstick: Satin finish
Brit plaid: Merry Mauve
Chevron: Holiday Chocolate
Leopard: Holly Red
Red plaid: Sugar Plum
Houndstooth: Wine Kisses

60 Mini Lipsticks: Avon True Color Mistletoe Kisses in a keepsake tin

20 Mini Avon True Color Lipsticks
20 Mini Perfectly Matte Lipsticks
10 Mini Bold Lipsticks
10. Mini Nourishing Lipsticks

Bookbag C/O Just Fab

Adoreme

Adoreme

This months Rocksbox was more Kate Spade items from the Fall line. I am tempted to keep the bangle, but at this point I think I am all foxed out and I may opt for a new box.

Dates: We had a continuation of date nights and brunches trying new places. The post below was scheduled for October, but I am clearly running out of time so the post for Oystercatchers will be live this Sunday*

Oystercatchers Tampa

Ocean Prime Tampa

FITNESS: I feel like my fitness has hit a really great level. As I wrote last month I failed to take any photos of myself working out because I was extremely busy the entire month of September and October. I also just have no room at the moment in my condo to even practice and be able to get good shots. I mosied on down to the gym we have here at our building to get some shots. I have been working on a lot of new poses, but I try to stick to the basics so that I target all of the areas that need to be stretched. I am on month five of using my kettle bell and I just love it. I can tell that my flanks are smoother which is what I wanted and my stomach is tighter. 

* ALL GLUTEN FREE FOODS COOKED BY MYSELF: RECIPES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST IF NOT LISTED

On part two of this City Life post I am focusing more on 1 skillet/pan meals or crock pot meals. Basically, you can cook everything at once and spend very little time in the kitchen and have not only healthy gluten free and keto meals, but also meals for the whole week.

1 Pan skillet meal

I literally put everything in my cast iron pan and preheated the oven to 400 and left it in there long enough to cook the salmon with is 25 minutes. This is a really simple recipe where you can get away with using only salt, pepper, garlic powder, and olive oil as seasoning.

This was a really easy skillet meal I did cook it in two steps though. As I noted before, I used chicken breast, but in my opinion boneless chicken thighs are a better choice.

1 pack of chicken breasts or boneless thighs
 bunch of asparagus
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 zucchini
1 pack of white mushrooms
1 half cup of balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
pepper to taste
a generous sprinkle of Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and add all the veggies and drizzle with evoo and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Let the veggies cook in the cast iron for 15 minutes.

Once the veggies have softened up remove the pan from the oven and add half a cup of balsamic vinegar. Add the chicken to the top so while it cooks the juices run down onto the veggies. Cook for another 25 minutes until chicken is no longer pink. Stir it all together so the flavors meld and serve.

Slow cooker chicken

This was an easy recipe and it's no different than the pork shoulder. You can use this meat to make a meal as is, as taco filling, or use as a soup base.

I used 2 chicken breasts, but it will be better if you use thighs because the fat/oil content will be higher. which will make the broth more flavorful and the meat will be more juicy.

2 cups of water (enough to cover the chicken)
1 cup of chicken broth
salt to taste
pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
red pepper flakes to taste
olive oil/ 1 tablespoon
garlic powder to taste
Badia Complete seasoning (this I don't measure, but I don't use a lot because it also has salt in it).

Cook on high for 7 hours and shred with a fork when its done.

I have made oxtails a bunch of times with a way more complex recipe using my dutch oven. I wanted to cook the oxtails the way my mom makes them- this is no shade to her- but really simple. All she uses is water, oxtails, salt, pepper, bell pepper, and onions. Now, I only have yellow onions which I did not want to use for this so I stuck to an even more simple approach.

If you buy the oxtails from Publix they are already cleaned well. We got three packs for 40.00 and its basically dinner for 4-5 days.

Place your oxtails in the croc pot. I had to cook mine in two separate batches because all of them wouldn't fit. This is 2 packs in the pot right now and the last pack had more so it was equivalent.

Fill the croc pot with water just enough to cover the oxtails. Cook for 9 hours on high. Serve over rice with a veggie, and spoon the broth over the rice and oxtails.

Ingredients

2 packs of  beef Oxtails
Water (about 2 cups)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
5 Smashed garlic cloves
Red pepper flakes to taste

Cooked oxtails

The first night the oxtails are done your broth will be heavy with fat and collogen. My mom likes to cook hers then place it in the fridge over night. I don't mind eating it the first day with a little fat, but the second day as you see the fat is solidified. You can skim the fat off the top. I take about 60-70% off before I reheat it.

cold oxtails

This was day 1 oxtails. I only had time to let them cook for 7 hours; So, day two I let them cook for 3 more hours so the fat will be completely melt off and the meat will be falling off the bone. So, this picture it is edible at seven hours and the meat still falls off the bone. Typically we eat late, but I didn't have time to let them keep cooking without eating dinner. Typically, I would eat my oxtails with collards, but I didn't have any and I have been enjoying this veggie blend the last few weeks.

SECOND DAY OXTAILS COOKED 9 FULL HOURS

Hubby's keto version