Coconut Turkey Fire Balls

It's been a cool minute since I've posted on the blog. Working more hours this summer, trying to cram in social time and keeping up at the gym have kept me pretty occupied. By the time I get home from work, I don't want to do much but sit on the couch with my blanket and Netflix.

That being said, I don't want to spend ridiculous amounts of time in the kitchen cooking dinner after a 10 hour day. I'm always on the lookout for easy recipes to throw together that not only taste delicious, but that won't make me feel like trash.

I got this recipe from a friend at work who is currently doing the Whole 30 - if you haven't heard of it I suggest you do a little research, she's had great results. While I myself am NOT doing the Whole 30, after trying her lunch one day and hearing how easy the recipe was, I decided to give it a try.

What you'll need:

1 lb of ground turkey

Coconut shavings

Cayenne pepper

Garlic seasoning

Jalapeno (if desired)

Pineapple juice

Coconut milk

1 egg

Creating the balls

1. Heat a frying pan on low to toast coconut shavings to a crisp, light brown. Put on a large plate to cool.

2. Mix 1 egg, 1 cup of crushed pineapple with juice, and coconut milk in a small bowl.

3. In a separate larger bowl, combine thawed ground turkey, finely chopped jalapeno, cayenne pepper and garlic seasoning. It's easiest to just mush it all together with your (clean!) hands.

4. After prepping a baking sheet, set the oven to 350 F. Or if you're better prepared than I am, you can do this before step 1 to really get the ball rolling. (;

5. Set up a mini assembly line starting with forming little balls with the ground turkey mix, dipping them in the pineapple juice concoction, rolling them in the toasted coconut shavings, and placing on baking sheet. Repeat until all ground turkey is balled and used. Drizzle remainder of pineapple concoction on top and dash with cayenne pepper if ya like it spicy. 

6. Time to get 'em in the oven! Set timer to 25 min, check progress, and cook longer if needed. Trial and error people.

7. After fully cooked, I tossed 2 on a plate with 1 tbsp of soy sauce and it was a match made in heaven! There are many different sauce alternatives to choose from depending on your personal taste preference.

I'm a simple gal, so I paired mine with some baby carrots and a Greek yogurt, ranch inspired veggie dip. Easy peasy. Feel free to tweak the mix to your own desire.

Add me on Pinterest to see the original recipe! ...with more professional cooking instructions.

That's what's in my jar.

Summer Nails

Rarely will you find me with unpainted nails.

 I love nail polish and how something so simple can make me so happy. Polish colors change with the seasons, and I can't lie... I love the dark burgundies and navy blues of fall, but summer polish collections are always the most fun.

Here are 5 of my current favorites!

from left to right

Butler Please - Essie

Lacey Lilac - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

Socialite - Revlon

Resort Fling - Essie

Cajun Shrimp - OPI

This could very well be a "Part 1" to a few follow-up Summer polish posts. Nail polish is one thing I could never have enough of. Keep an eye out!

That's what's in my jar.

Rambling on Perfection

What do you think of when you hear the word, perfect? We use this word to describe people, feelings, movies, lipstick, situations, bodies, days, moments, food, weddings, shoes, the list goes on.

Growing up I couldn't help but to idealize perfection. As young as elementary school, I remember worrying about perfect grades, a perfect piano recital, the perfect pair of jelly shoes, doing the perfect back-handspring. As I got older the itch for perfection only grew. 

The perfect I was searching for was now in boys, in the "cool crowd" of people at school, in the clothes I wore, in a first kiss, in what people thought of me, in the kind of car I would drive when I turned 16 - let me just say it wasn't perfect ('92 Honda with burgundy interior, if you're curious...thanks dad).

The yearning for perfection in material things stayed constant, but new expectations of perfection began to form. Perfect people. We create ideas in our minds of what people should be like, how they should treat us, and how they should make us feel. I even remember making a list of requirements I would have for a boyfriend after the first one broke my heart.

Obviously, I've had boyfriends since then and not a single one checked off every "requirement" on that list. Not because they weren't nice guys - but because perfection in people does not exist. Perfection does not exist in the majority of tangible, earthly things.

As much as we would love to say that we fully accept our own flaws along with those of other people, it is only human nature to cling to ideas of perfection.

I live a comfortable life, I have a lot of people who care about me, I'm not struggling to pay the bills, I always have a meal on the table, I'm healthy, I have good grades, a great job. Yet, DAILY I catch myself wishing for perfection in silly things.

"I wish I had perfect skin."
"If I do enough squats I'll have the perfect butt."
"I need the perfect dress for this weekend."
"That would be the perfect job when I graduate."

This isn't something that everybody likes to talk about. It's hard to admit that it bothers us when things don't turn out like we hoped they would. It's hard to admit that we expect perfection, because as humans, we know that it's not realistic.

I'm not saying that we should have low expectations or standards when it comes to our own happiness and well-being, but we should not be so clouded by looming ideas of perfection that we forget to realize what IS good, or even GREAT. Although I don't think these ideas will ever completely fade away, this is something I'm learning to be more conscious about as I get older.


That's what's in my jar.