Delicious Recipes

Creamy Garlic Scallops

I love scallops!  They are one of my favorite dishes to eat.  While scallops may seem like they might be hard to make, they are actually one of those dishes that tastes amazing but is quite simple.

Here is a great recipe by  Rasa Malaysia.  You can check out her other 900+ recipes at rasamalaysia.com

Creamy Garlic Scallops

by @rasamalaysia
Serves 3

Creamy Garlic Scallops | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Ingredients:

1 lb jumbo natural scallops
Salt
Ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons white wine or Japanese cooking sake, optional
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt, to taste
1 teaspoon chopped parsley leaves
1 slice lemon wedges, quartered, for garnishing, optional

Directions:

Rinse the scallops, pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and black pepper.

Heat up a skillet with olive oil and butter. Pan-sear the scallops on both sides until nicely browned, but don’t overcook them. Remove and set aside.

On the same skillet, add the garlic and saute. Add a little bit olive oil if you want. Add the cream, water, wine, salt and cayenne pepper. Bring it to a gentle simmer until the sauce thickens a bit. Add the scallops back into the skillet, add the chopped parsley leaves and lemon wedges, turn off heat and serve immediately.

For a lighter version that is just as delicious check out her Garlic scallops recipe by clicking HERE.

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Beauty Subscription

Walmart Beauty Box Winter 2016

Did you know that Walmart has it’s own a subscription beauty box?  Yup, they do!  It is a quarterly box and only costs $5 a season.  Generally the box will have around 5 samples, with 1 or 2 of them being full sized products.  Also in your Walmart Beauty Box, they send 2 or 3 smaller sample beauty products and coupons.

Walmart technically calls it a “sample box” and says that the box itself is free and the $5 is a flat rate for shipping and handling.  Either way the box costs $5 each season.

walmartbeautybox | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com.jpg

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen the picture that I posted the other day of my Winter beauty box.  If you don’t follow me on Instagram, you should 😉 https://instagram.com/lookingjoligood/

How does it work?

  • You sign up at https://beautybox.walmart.com/
  • Create and account
  • Add your payment and shipping info
  • Wait for you confirmation email
  • Enjoy your beauty box when it arrives

If you are first time subscribers: Your subscription will be processed when you sign up and your credit card will be charged $5 and you will receive the current season’s box.  Once you are subscribed, you won’t have to resign up, you will receive a shipping confirmation email and then your box will arrive.  You’ll only be charged when your Beauty Box is shipped.

The Walmart beauty box website says “Each seasonal Beauty Box is a “limited edition” and may sell out.  Note: Beauty products vary by box.  Only one beauty box per email address.”

Here in the picture below is what I got in this seasons box.  I wasn’t overly impressed with this seasons box.  I have already received both the Neutrogena face wash and the Pure Silk shave gel in previous Walmart beauty boxes. Usually there is at least one or two full sized makeup products, but this time there was only lotions and hair stuff.  Oh well, they can’t all be winners.

walmartbeautybox | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Shipping Schedule

Winter Starting the last week of November I got mine at the end of December
Spring Starting the second week of March (I didn’t get my spring box until mid May)
Summer Starting the second week of June (I got my summer box in mid August)
Fall Starting the second week of September (I received mine mid October)

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Beauty Subscription · Make up · Review

Wait, What?! More Nail Polish…!

You are probably going to laugh when you hear this!

A while back I completed a Sally Hansen Airbrushed Legs “campaign” for Influenster*.   After I completed it, they said they wanted to send me “something special” as a thank you.  The other day I had an unexpected package in my mail box from Influenster.  I had forgotten all about the”something special” fromSally Hansen,  when I opened up the box I found…

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Violet Voltage

If you have been around Looking Joli Good for any amount of time, you know how I feel about nail polish…  But actually to be completely honest, it isn’t nail polish itself that I don’t like, it is chipped up nail polish.  I actually do like to have my nails painted, I just hate it when they get chipped and I have to take it all off and repaint them.  I wash my hands what seems like a million times a day, so most polish doesn’t seem to last very long on my nails before becoming chipped.

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails | lookingjoligood.wordpress.comDespite the fact that I don’t really want any more nail polish, I have to admit, this color is beautiful and exactly a color I would choose for myself to wear.  I just had to laugh when I opened the box and saw that I was sent another bottle of nail polish, especially after the big stink I had just made about getting the polish from ipsy**.

I’m going to try out this Sally Hansen nail polish and I’ll have to let you know what I think about it.  If nothing else, I can always use it to paint my toenails.

*If you don’t know what Influenster is, you can check out my posts about it HERE and HERE.  You should totally sign up!  Even better, sign up using my referral link, it is such a great way to give your opinion and get free stuff. Here is my referral link  www.influenster.com/r/1049268)

**If you don’t know what ipsy is, you can check out my other posts all about it HERE.  It is a great way to try out new brands and different types makeup.

Make up · Review

What I Got For Christmas!!!

Hello everyone!  I hope that you all had an absolutely wonderful Christmas day!  Praying you all spent your day with those you hold dearest, making memories that you will cherish for a lifetime! I greatly enjoyed the time I was able to spend with my family.  We had a wonderful day together.  My most favorite gifts of all were not found under the tree.

I was so very excited to receive… not one…not two… not even three… but FOUR new eye shadow palettes.  I  got the Lorac Pro Palette!!! The Naked 2 Palette  and both the matte and the shimmer Lorac Love Lust and Lace palettes.  I cannot wait to create all kinda of different types of eye looks with these new palettes!

1, 2, 3, 4! New Eye Shadow Palettes! | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I used shadows from the Lorac Pro palette on Christmas day, and I am not going to lie, my eye look was fierce 😉  These shadows are amazing!  I am planning to use the Naked 2 palette today.  I feel like a little kid, I am so excited about these!

1, 2, 3, 4! New Eye Shadow Palettes! | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com
How can anyone say no to playing ball with a sweet face like that?!

I got my sweet BT Tessie a set of new tiny tennis balls.  She is obsessed with playing ball, so she was in Heaven.  She kept bringing me the ball and placing it right in front of my camera while I was trying to take pictures of the kids opening their gifts.

What did you get for Christmas?  Are you so excited too?  Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend!

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Make up · Review · Weekly Product Highlight

Weekly Product Highlight~SoapBox Shampoo and Conditioner

 I have seen this brand sold at Target, but have never purchased it for myself.  I was happy to see that it was included in the spice voxbox I recently received from Influenster.  When reading about this brand I realized what an awesome company it is!  For every product sold, a bar of soap or a month of clean water is given to a person in need.  Each bottle has a Hope Code printed on it, you can put it into the tracker on the soapbox website to see where your bottle is helping.

They partner with Global Soap Project, a nonprofit that collects hotel soap remnants and remakes them into new bars.
They also work with Splash, an organization that comes alongside local governments and aid organizations to take the clean water infrastructure multinational food corporations use and apply it to orphanages and children’s hospitals.

As for the product itself… I am usually not a huge fan of the coconut scent, but this product doesn’t have an overly coconut smell.  I think it seems a bit more almond like.  It is pleasant. I do like the shampoo, but I have really been enjoying the conditioner. It is thick and creamy, and a little goes a long way.

Both products are color safe, sulfate free and paraben free, as well as free of phthalates, EDTA and artificial colorants.  Happily these are cruelty free, not tested on animals.

SoapBox Shampoo and Conditioner | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

When I put my hope code into the tracker I was told that my bottles would be helping with providing water to Napal and India

 

The Project: Clean Water and Hygiene Education

Quick Facts

Scope: 650 Public Schools

Start Date: 2007

Projected Exit: 2020

Children Served: 90,503 daily

City: Kathmandu, Nepal

Population: 1,744,240

The city of Kathmandu is growing fastest of all other cities in Southeast Asia due to general population trends of moving from countryside into urban centers and the desire of locals to find economic opportunities and escape a decades-long civil war. Because of this urban growth, water quality levels have been affected. More than 70% of the water sources in the Kathmandu Valley were found to be contaminated with e Coli in randomized water tests, contributing to a 130% higher rate of diarrheal diseases among the urban poor compared to their wealthier peers in the same city. On top of this, they also pay up to 3x as much as their wealthier peers for the same water.

The Project: Clean Water, Hygiene Education, and Sanitation

Quick Facts

Scope: 3,000 Sites

Start Date: 2012

Projected Exit: 2025

Children served: 17,042 daily

 City: Kolkata

Population: 14,112,536

20% of schoolchildren in Kolkata live in slums. Kolkata (Calcutta) is a difficult city to tackle because it has widely available water in slums like these, but it is, almost across the board, contaminated. Splash decided that the best way to drive change within this massive infrastructure was to start with schools because schools are the most consistent platform across the more than 140 wards of the city for a program roll-out, and also the fastest way to begin. By providing 2,000 schools with clean water solutions and hygiene education and 1,000 additional child serving locations like orphanages and shelters, Splash hopes to change the levels of expectation in regard to water quality standards. In addition, Splash has partnered with local organizations to implement sanitation initiatives like With backing from the Indian government, success looks promising!

Why Water?

Without water, soap isn’t much use to anyone! That’s why SoapBox products contribute to clean water initiatives too. Water related diseases are one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and water-spread diarrheal diseases are the second leading cause of death among children under the age of 5. More children could be saved by fixing this issue than eliminating malaria, AIDS, and measles combined!

Who is Splash?

Our clean water donations are given through our great aid partner, Splash. SoapBox chose Splash because of their focus on providing clean water by use of succinct programs that independently run after Splash exits the community, leaving behind clean water and hygiene education.

Splash cleans water for kids. Using commercially proven technology – the same used by leading global food chains and hotels – Splash secures world-class water filtration for kids who would otherwise rely on unclean water in their schools, orphanages, or other institutions. Beyond this, Splash both creates and delivers hygiene education programs, and also partners with local experts in sanitation, thereby advancing the full complement of WASH (“Water, Sanitation & Hygiene”) interventions required to fight water-borne illness. – See more at: www.splash.org.

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Beauty Subscription · Free/Good Deals · Make up

Spice Vox Box

I love to give my opinion and I love free stuff.  There is actually a place online that both of these things come together…Influenster.com

Infuenster is a product discovery platform that lets opinionated, social media savvy consumers like you discover and share knowledge on products through sampling, reviews, and more!”

Spice Vox Box | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com
Spice Voxbox sent to me free from Influenster 

It is easy to get started.  You just need to login toInfluenster.com and complete your profile by sharing some general information about yourself so you can get matched with campaigns that you might be interested in.

Now that the Influenster commercial is finished… I was recently selected by Influenster to receive the Spice Vox Box.  This box is great!  There are so many awesome things inside!

Products Featured:

Influenster Spice Voxbox | lookingjoligood.wordpress.comSoapBox Conditioner
SoapBox Shampoo I have seen this brand at Target, but have never purchased it for myself.  I was happy to see that it was included in the spice voxbox.  When reading about this brand I realized what an awesome company it is!  I’m going to write a full review about it once I have used the product for a few weeks.  So far I have only been using these for two days, but I am liking them so far.

Foot Petals “Killer Kushionz” I am not going to lie, I haven’t put these in my shoes yet.  I am kinda confused as to what they are and what they actually do?…

Spice Vox Box | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com
Yogi Tea says to “Act don’t react!”

Yogi Tea Sweet Tangerine Positive Energy I have a love hate relationship with Yogi teas.  This one has a great flavor, but they are presweetened with stevia.  I have a major sweet tooth, and something about stevia is just too sweet for me.

Yogi Tea Vanilla Spice Perfect Energy   This one had a great flavor as well, and it didn’t seem too overly sweet, maybe because it is a bit spicier or bolder in flavor.  I like this one better than the Tangerine one.

Not Your Mother’s Whip it Up Cream Styling Mousse  I have already written an entire post dedicated to  Not Your Mother’s Whip it up Styling Mousse  which you can check out HERE. (spoiler alert:  I love it!)

influenster spice voxbox | lokingjoligood.wordpress.comBoots Botanics Hydrating Day Cream I have been loving this cream!  It has a nice light feel yet moisturizes at the same time!  Since it is extremely lightweight, it makes ideal for wearing under makeup.  The scent isn’t my favorite.  It think it is described as rosehip.  Not a huge fan.  I really like the cream despite the scent, and the scent doesn’t really linger too long.  This is available at Ulta for about $13.

Spice Vox Box | lookingjoligood.wordpress.comGood Health Veggie Stix My family loved these!  They have a great flavor and are a lot healthier than regular chips.  Influenster worked on me because I have already bought a bag for myself from my local grocery store.

SinfulColors SinfulShine 2-Step Manicure  If you have been around Looking Joli Good for any amount of time, you know how I feel about nail polish!  My daughter was thrilled about it though.  It is a bright smurf blue, and as of now, that is her favorite color.  She’s had it on her nails for about a week and it is still hanging on.  Nail polish doesn’t usually stay well on children’s nails because they have softer more “oily” nail beds.

influenster spice voxbox | lokingjoligood.wordpress.com
My daughter wearing a glitter tattoo and the sinful shine bright blue nail polish.

Foot Petals Give ‘Em the Boot (some received these I got the Killer Kushionz instead)

Have you tried any of these products?  Did you get your own voxbox?  Are you already a member of Influenster?  Let me know in the comment section.

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

**While I received all of these items for free from Influenster in the Spice Voxbox, as always all these opinions are my own!**

 

 

Delicious Recipes

Caramel Popcorn

A few weeks back my friends and I celebrated “Friendsgiving”  One of my friends made some delicious homemade caramel popcorn.  For me it was love at first bite!  She gave me the recipe and I have been enjoying homemade caramel ever since!  So simple and delicious.  While I prefer to eat all of this homemade caramel popcorn myself, this recipe is perfect for giving away as gifts during the holiday season.

Homemade Caramel Popcorn | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 unpopped popcorn
(simple instructions below on how to pop kernels in the microwave using a brown paper lunch bag.)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup white corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
Optional: chopped nuts, sprinkles, chopped candy bars, M&M’s
Directions:
1. Pop popcorn and place in a large metal bowl.
2. Combine sugar, butter and corn syrup in heavy cooking pan.
3.Cook on medium heat; stir constantly.
4. When sauce turns medium caramel color, remove from heat and add vanilla.
**Warning: Be extra careful!  The caramel is so super hot that if even a tiny bit gets on your skin it will burn soooooo bad!  Also, don’t stand directly over the pan  when you add the vanilla.  It will bubble and steam when you add it to the hot mixture.**
5. Immediately pour over popcorn and stir with a long handled metal or wooden spoon.
6. Enjoy and try not to eat the whole thing yourself 😉
Paper Bag Popcorn Popping:
  1. Measure 1/2 cup popcorn kernels into a lunch sized paper bag.
  2. Loosely fold just the very top of the bag over so the kernels don’t spill out. Tape it shut (or you may end up with a microwave full of popcorn!)
  3. Lay the bag in the microwave taped side down.  Shake the kernels to spread them out evenly in the bag.
  4. Microwave until there are no more than 3 seconds between popping sounds. (My microwave usually takes 2 min 30 seconds, but I stand by and listen very closely!)
  5. Carefully remove the bag and open it carefully, the popcorn is hot! Enjoy!
Beauty Subscription · Make up · Review

Ipsy Glam Bag December 2015

 

Ipsy December glam bag | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

I can’t believe that another month has flown by and it is already time to receive another ipsy glam bag!  If you don’t know what ipsy is you can check out my previous post all about it by clicking HERE

If you are thinking about trying out ipsy, here is my referral link  https://www.ipsy.com/new?refer=uqdkx

This month’s glam bag is a bright Christmas red.  It has a patten leather feel to it.  It is a half moon shape which makes it a bit smaller than usual.  Not my favorite bag, but I do like that the zipper is on the top instead of across the side like several of the last few bags.

I actually received my bag last week and have already been using the products.  So this will be a bit of a mini review as well.

Ipsy December glam bag | lookingjoligood.wordpress.comSwissco Soft Touch Slant Tweezers

I am super picky when it comes to tweezers.  I hate to have to say it but these just didn’t live up to my standards.They have a nice feel to them, but the tip is just too thick and blunt to really get ahold of those tough stubborn hairs.

Ipsy December glam bag | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner

This did not swatch too well, but I have to say that since I have been using it I have really enjoyed it.  I got the color wild child which is kind of like an off black.  I really like that it is a mechanical liner.  I feel as if so much product gets wasted with the types that need to be sharpened.

Ipsy December glam bag | lookingjoligood.wordpress.comLATHER honey moisture mask with propolis extract

I LOVE this mask!  It has a great feel and my skin has been loving the extra moisture!  I also love the honey scent!  This is my favorite thing that I got in my glam bag this month.

A super-hydrating mask to relieve stressed skin that has been over-exposed to environmental pollutants and nature’s harsh elements. Specially blended with propolis extract, natural honey, nourishing minerals and vitamins, this mask revitalizes the skin’s texture with deep-penetrating nutrients. Paraben-free.

Ipsy December glam bag | lookingjoligood.wordpress.comPacifica  Power Of Love Natural Lipstick
Not the perfect color for me, but still very pretty and it lives up to the product claims.  

Amazingly creamy, highly-pigmented, and naturally moisturizing – this lipstick is packed with all the vitamins and antioxidants your lips crave. Made with coconut oil, shea butter, and vitamin E. 100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free.

ipsy glam bag | lookingjoligood.wordpress.comFORMULA X  Nail Polish in Revved Up

 When they sent out the preview email, I saw all the awesome possibilities… and the nail polish.  I thought to myself, with all these awesome possibilities, I REALLY  hope I don’t get the nail polish !  You guys! You’ve got to me kidding me! I got ANOTHER nail polish!!!  I hate nail polish!  Why do I keep getting nail polish?!   With washing my hands and wearing gloves all day at work, I can’t wear it, and I get my feet done at the salon.  I am not going to lie, when I saw that I got yet another nail polish in my ipsy glam bag, I was so mad!  I felt like a huge baby, but I was seriously so upset!  I HATE nail polish!  I talked to the ipsy customer service and while they are super nice and helpful, there really isn’t anything that they can do about it. I felt better that at least I was able to vent about it to someone at ipsy.  Obviously this is my LEAST favorite thing that I got in my bag this month!

How about you?   Did you get an ipsy’s glam bag?  What did you get in yours?  Were you happy with your samples?  Do you get any other monthly subscription bags/boxes that are worth trying out?  Let me know in the comments below.

If you don’t already subscribe and would like to try out ipsy you can use my referral link by clicking HERE!  Also, if you are interested in seeing my other recent posts about ipsy click HERE

lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

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