It's Pinspired Friday! {DIY Color Block T-Shirt}

Alright lovelies, it's Pinspired Friday and I've got a good one for you today...

Color blocking is everywhere...and maybe I'm a little late to the party but dang it, I love the trend and I had to have some color blocking in my life. 

My sister-in-law gave me a whole bag full of t-shirts of all different sizes and colors (thank you!!) and I wanted something NEON. Am I too old for neon? Maybe. But I figured if I mixed some navy it would tone it down a bit and make it age appropriate. I originally wanted to make the bottom blue and the shoulders neon, but there was a logo on the yellow one that would have required a lot more thinking on my part and I wasn't having it. ;)

Here's what inspired this shirt:

Uber Chic for  Cheap: Refashion: DIY Color Block Tees

And yes, this girl is super cute and puts my selfies to shame later on in this post.

Need to have one for yourself? Here is what you'll need.

• 2 T-shirts - 1 of mine (the navy one) was a Hanes "Favorite T" so it was slightly more fitted and had cap sleeves... making it a little easier. The other (the neon one) was a Fruit of the Loom "BEST" shirt (basic shirt... the kind you see screenprinted locations or attractions on.) Both were the same 50% cotton/50% polyester though - which is important for a steady and even stitch when you stitch the two pieces together.

You'll also want:

• A sewing machine

• A bunch of straight pins

• A rotary board, a rotary cutter, and a big ole' ruler. It'll make your life easier than cutting it with scissors, trust me.

Here's my shirts. As I pointed out above, you'll want them to be the same material, and at least similar width wise in size. You can always make bigger smaller, but obviously you can't make smaller bigger. As you can see, I have about 1" or so on each side that is larger than the blue shirt. No worries, we tackle that later. Figure out which one you want on top, and which one on bottom. I picked neon on bottom, navy on top. If you have a logo that lines up with your armpitties, find a different shirt. Logo-less shirts are best for this. Kudos if you buy the same exact shirt in two different colors.

Grab your top shirt. Get it to lay perfect... smoothing wrinkles, making sure seams line up, etc. I used my ruler to make sure the arm pit lines matched up and were straight... important so you don't make an awkward wonky line.

I cut about 2 inches under the armpit. If you want your top half of the shirt to sit a little higher (more on the top of the breast, for example), you can cut it higher, but leave enough to for a seam allowance. Line up your ruler straight and cut.

I cut the bottom shirt about 2 inches under the armpit. Make sure it's straight, smooth and then cut.

You've now got two pieces of shirt, so turn both pieces inside out and start pinning around the parts to be sewn together. Before you start pinning willy nilly, you have to think about seams if your shirt has any (pin the shirt where the seams would normally go), and pay attention that you're pinning the pieces correctly and that the insides of the shirts will be both inside when you turn the shirts back inside out. Make sense? You don't want your top to be correct when you turn it back and your exposed hem to be facing the outside. When you go to pin, start pinning in one armpit region, just in case your shirts don't match up size wise like mine.

My yellow shirt didn't have any seams (score) so I didn't have to worry about where they were, which was good since I have to take that yellow shirt in a bit. Pin around the shirt, and if you're like me, you'll have more of one shirt than the other.

That white-ish piece in the middle left is the yellow shirt. Had to use crappy flash to get the seam to show though.

As you can see, I had too much yellow. So I lined up my excess with the blue seam and then pinned that down the shirt so I could make a new side seam so my fabric would match. NOTE: If you are using the same size shirt, don't worry about this step!!!

Pinning the new side seam... And yes, this means that my shirt will have one side seam. I ain't hatin'.

Now my side is seamed, and the blue and yellow fabric are equal sizes. Yay!

Switch your sewing machine to zig zag stitch. Zig zag stitches will help so the fabric doesn't pull as much when you sew this type of fabric. My machine was set to this stitch, size "3" length, 3 width, 4 tension. Pretty normal tension settings.

Start sewing in one of the armpits. I recommend the one you didn't have to make a new seam on if you can avoid it. If you used the same size shirts, either armpit will do.

Sew around, hit your reverse button to reinforce the beginning stitches... and turn that bad boy back out. You're done!


*deep breath* *awkward selfies...*

.Yes, this is me...and I did not 'shop this picture (even though I wanted to very badly...) 6.8lbs down in this weight loss journey...  and not stopping :)

Luckily, this shirt can shrink right with me. :) I think this'll look cute for spring with some white capri's or skinny jeans with heels like Uber Chic. :)

Update: I tried this shirt this morning with a cardi and necklace :) 

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Try it out - I might make another with a navy base and pink top. We'll see! :)

I'm linking up to these parties!

Parmesan Pepper Roasted Cauliflower

As promised... we're going to chat about Parmesan Pepper Roasted Cauliflower today.  Diets/lifestyle changes are still going strong (woo!), I am down about 5.4 lbs and Mr. LOC is down about 8lbs so we're happy as we've not even been at this for a week yet.

This is a recipe from Bob Harper's "The Skinny Rules" that I modified very slightly. If you're wondering about that fish in that picture... check out my post on roasted chili lime tilapia.

So let's gather our ingredients:
• 1/2 head fresh cauliflower or 1/2 bag of frozen cauliflower florets
• Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper, freshly ground is my preference.
• Parmesan cheese
• Red pepper flakes

You'll also want:
• A toaster oven or regular oven. I used toaster as my tilapia was cooking at the same time in the other oven. :)
• A pot to boil water in

First, preheat your oven to 425. Then, start boiling water in pot - you need enough water to cover your cauliflower, plus a little more.

If you are using fresh like me, cut up your cauliflower into florets, meaning the heads and the little stems. If your water is boiling, go ahead and drop the florets into the boiling water. Boil them for about 5 minutes, or until they are cooked al dente.

Once the time has passed, drain and move the florets to a baking pan. Drizzle a little olive oil or spray a little olive oil onto the florets, dash a little salt, pepper, Parmesan, and red pepper flakes. The oil olive will help the spices stay on. Remember, we're trying to eat healthy, so don't coat the cauliflower with olive oil... it will make them mushy and not cook right if you put too much.

Your oven should be ready to go, so go ahead and place the pan in the oven and let the cauliflower roast for about 15 minutes. You're watching for the tops to brown slightly.

Those nice crispy parts are in part to the fact that we didn't spray down our pan with cooking spray before hand... you actually want those slightly brown (not burnt!) parts, as they have a great flavor!

Enjoy! We're having them again tonight and I can hardly wait! :)

It's Pinspired Friday! {Kale Chips}

It's Pinspired Friday!

Today, I'm going to be talking about Kale chips. It's all started when yesterday at about 3:30 pm, I was starting to get really. really. hungry. The diet is going good... 3.8 pounds (as of this morning) down since we started this on the 27th... so I didn't want to throw all of my progress out the window. I needed something to satisfy that slightly salty, crunchy craving. I took a look at other pinner's ideas and enter...

Now, stay with me here. Kale? Chips? How could basically cabbage taste anything like chips? Well, they don't taste like your sour cream and cheddar chips, no, but kale is a great source of vitamins, nutrients, and it's ultra low in calories. And when you bake the kale, something amazingly awesome happens and it takes on a potato like taste. Plus, a whole bundle of kale is cheap cheap!

"One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus." - WebMD, The Truth About Kale

 So yay kale! And now you want to try these out for yourself, right??

Here's what you'll need:
• Kale - I used about 3 or so large leaves.
• Olive oil
• Salt (I just used table salt, I imagine sea salt would be pretty tasty too)

You'll also want:
• An oven
• A baking sheet

First, start preheating your oven to 350. Remove the stem and chop up your leaves to small potato chip size. I just cut around the stem and threw it away. Now, with clean hands, drip a little olive oil into your palm (about the size of a quarter.) and rub your leaves all over. Try to coat them all, but don't go overboard with the oil, otherwise they won't crisp up right.

Lay the leaves on your baking sheet in a single layer to ensure even cooking. Then, place the pan in the oven (make sure it's fully preheated to 350!) and cook for 9-10 minutes. You will want to keep an eye on them as all ovens are different. You're watching for that perfect moment where they are crispy, but not brown and burnt. They will take on a bitter taste if they're left in too long too!

Take them out of the oven, sprinkle a little salt on them and enjoy! This ultra low calorie snack is a snap to prepare and they'll get eaten quickly! :)

Thanks for following along and have a great weekend!

Weight Loss Using Bob Harper's "The Skinny Rules" - Chili Lime Tilapia Recipe

I know I've only touched on weight loss here before once or twice... but it's something I have dealt with for a long time. Who hasn't, really? I think we all struggle with weight loss, even if it's 100's of pounds to lose or just a few to look better in a bikini.

Our good friends embarked on their weight loss journey together and have found success. Mr. LOC and I could not be happier for them, as we know what a struggle it can be. So MAJOR congratulations to them (if they are reading! :). Mr. LOC and I had to know how they did it, and they shared their secret weapon...

Bob Harper "The Skinny Rules" - easy to follow rules for getting skinny, it's chock full of recipes, and has a full month's worth of meal plans, along with advice and things that make you realize it maybe, could be that easy if these rules could be followed.

We decided to get a copy. Yesterday we finished our first full day, and we're past breakfast on the second day. *fistpump*.

Last night's dinner was to be fish, cauliflower, and green beans. One of the benefits of this diet/lifestyle change, which is similar to other lower calorie diets, is that you can have any kind of seasonings/herbs to jazz up your food a little. Well, if you know me, I have a tendency to spice things up by adding a little extra (maybe that's how I got in this situation... whoops), but I realized I could do this the "skinny rules" way.

He has a great recipe for Roasted Fish in his book, but it was pretty basic. Salt, pepper, olive oil, roast and eat. Frowny face. After a quick flip through the rest of the book to make sure lime juice was okay, I rounded up some herbs and seasonings. May I present...

Today, I'm going to touch on the fish, but keep your eyes peeled for a post about the cauliflower!

Let's gather our ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Lime juice
• Garlic powder
• Black pepper
• Red pepper
• Sea salt
• Parsley
• Two tilapia fillets, completely thawed (I made this for Mr. LOC and I, and we only had one fillet each... you may want more for your family.)

You'll also want:
• A roasting pan or cookie sheet
• An oven
• Tinfoil

First, preheat your oven to 475. While your oven is preheating, stick your empty cookie sheet in the oven. Obviously, this pan is going to get pretty hot, so be careful when you put your fish on it in a later step.

To avoid extra fat, we're going to coat the tilapia using the lime juice instead of coating it in olive oil.

On one side, drip a little lime juice on the tilapia, or if you want, put the lime juice in your hand and coat the tilapia that way. Remember, that lime juice will have a bit of natural sugar so don't go crazy. Extra points if you use actual limes.

Then, take your garlic powder, black pepper, red pepper flakes, parsley, and sea salt and dash a little of each on the fish. Again, don't go nuts with the sea salt as we're also avoiding a ton of sodium here too.

Flip the fish over and repeat the process. Once your oven has heated to 475, tear a piece of tinfoil and give it a little bit of olive oil. Then place the tilapia on the foil. Carefully move the foil with the tilapia on to the hot cookie sheet in the oven. You can move your oven racks out carefully to make this step easier by sliding them out and then back in.

Roast for about 13-15 minutes. Watch the time on this one, I needed about 13 minutes, but the original calls for 8-10.

Get excited, you just made low calorie chili lime tilapia! :) The key here is to keep your modifications within the rules. Herbs and spices can really take something blah and make it great!

Keep your eyes peeled here for other Skinny Rules recipes and recipe modifications. We'll be back in a few days with roasted parm cauliflower! Thanks for following along!