The Petite Fashionista

Baked Chicken Taquitos Recipe

Hi Everyone!

Today I wanted to share a recipe with you that I made last night. Baked chicken taquitos. You can find the original recipe here: http://bit.ly/TMpuBV

Since this was my first time making this, I followed the recipe. The only thing that I changed was that I used whole wheat tortillas instead of flour. I also found all of the ingredients at my local Trader Joe’s. This was fast, easy, and very delicious. I also served them with brown rice. It makes seven total, but we have two left over. I also did not make the dipping sauce, I just poured some enchilada sauce over them. Delicious!

Well, I hope that you all enjoy this recipe. This will be my last post for the week because I will be off enjoying the 4th of July holiday. I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday weekend and I will be back next week with more fun posts! 🙂

Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

Polka Dot Jeans

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you all had a great weekend. My weekend was pretty good. My husband and I went to a blues concert on Friday night that was great, Saturday I worked, and yesterday we watched the Pride Parade. We also grilled some delicious burgers and spent some time with my Dad.

Moving on!

Today I just wanted to share a fun outfit with you. I love polka dots. They are cheery and they will never go out of style. We had a pair of polka dot jeans at work and they were adorable. I had a lot of fun creating different outfits with them too. Here I paired them with a bright pink top and wedges. I of course had to add the polka dot Tory Burch bag. 🙂 You could also go more casual with a t-shirt and some flats. I also like the idea of wearing a graphic t-shirt and denim jacket with them.

Well I hope that this inspires you to give a fun type of denim a try. I also hope that the cheerful polka dots have brightened up your Monday.

Have a wonderful day everyone and thank you for stopping by! 🙂

Five of my Favorite Places in Chicago

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday to you! Today I wanted to share with you five of my favorite places here in Chicago. If I listed ALL of my favorite places here, this would be the longest blog post ever. So here is just a list of five of them, and some pictures that I took with my fabulous iPhone 4.

Here is my list!

1. Sunda New Asian in River North. Wonderful service, cool decor, and fantastic food. I think that the sushi here is the best in the city.

2. Galway Arms. My favorite pub in the city, and it’s in our neighborhood. It is charming, they always have great beers on tap, and oh my gosh the BEST bread pudding. It is the only food item that I’ve ever had there, but oh my gosh it’s so delicious.

3. Star Lounge in Humboldt Park. This is a coffee shop that we love to go to. They serve Dark Matter coffee which is a local company here. They have this iced coffee called Chocolate City that is really good, and the agave latte is pretty delicious too.

4. Lincoln Park Zoo. I don’t live too far from the zoo. It is so nice to take a long walk through the park to the zoo. It is also FREE and it’s so much fun to walk through. I also love passing through the beautiful gardens near the Conservatory.

5. Savon Spa Lakeview. This is my nail place, but they also offer other spa services. Melissa has been doing my nails since 2007, and she is the best. Getting a manicure is the one thing that makes me feel better no matter what and I always look forward to seeing my friends over at Savon! 🙂

Well that is it for now. All of these places have websites, so feel free to check them out. I look forward to sharing more of my favorite places and favorite things about Chicago. It is a wonderful city and even though the winters here can be brutal, I really love living here.

I hope that you all have a fantastic weekend and thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

Turkey Taco Skillet Recipe

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you are all having a great week so far. Today I wanted to share a recipe with you that I recently tried and that I will be adding to my meal rotation. You can find the original recipe here: http://www.yummyhealthyeasy.com/2014/06/turkey-taco-skillet.html. I made a few changes though to personalize it though.

Turkey Taco Skillet

Ingredients:

1 lb. extra-lean ground turkey
1 pkg. of reduced sodium taco seasoning

2¼ cups water

1 (16-oz) jar of salsa (I use Newman’s Own Mild Chunky, or Trader Joe’s.)

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 chopped green pepper

1 bag of brown rice (I use one bag of Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice.)

1 bag of frozen corn

Instructions:
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and brown ground turkey, breaking it up into pieces.
2. Stir in reduced-sodium taco seasoning mix, water, red and green peppers, salsa and corn.

3. Add the brown rice and mix everything together.

4. Serve in a bowl with your choice of toppings. I like to sprinkle some low-fat Mexican blend shredded cheese and a little bit of cilantro.

5. Enjoy!

I cook the brown rice and the corn in the microwave, but if you want to add into the skillet uncooked, that is fine. This whole recipe will take you 30 minutes to make. This is a great weeknight meal or when you want to cook something fast. Maybe save some leftovers for lunch the next day too. 🙂 I hope that you will all give this recipe a try and that you enjoy it.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you all have a fabulous day! 🙂

Distressed Skinny Jeans

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. I worked on Saturday but I also enjoyed spending some time with my husband, friends, and my parents.

Last week I did a post on Boyfriend jeans, and talked about some different looks that you could try with them. Today I want to talk about Distressed Skinny Jeans. When I saw all of the distressed jeans that we got where I work, I liked the skinny distressed jeans the best. I always wear skinny jeans though so that is probably why. 🙂 Anyway, I like the fact that these jeans give the skinny jean an edgy look. These are also great for someone who usually wears traditional skinny jeans but wants to try something different. I paired them with a t-shirt and neutral sandals, and added a bright colored necklace and bag. They would also look great with a chiffon, silk, or lacey top with either heels or wedges.

Well I hope that you enjoyed this post and that maybe you will give distressed skinny jeans a try. Check out the other distressed styles too if you’re not a fan of skinny jeans. 🙂

Have a great day everyone and thank you so much for stopping by!

Turkey Meatballs and Marinara Sauce Recipe

Happy Friday Everyone!

Today I’m sharing my turkey meatball and marinara sauce recipe. This is a recipe that I make almost every week to satisfy that pasta and meatball craving. These are originally both Giada De Laurentiis recipes that I personalized with some changes. You can find her recipe for turkey meatballs here: http://bit.ly/1oMw1e3, and her marinara sauce recipe here: http://bit.ly/1ipFtB9.

Onto my recipe though!

Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

– 1 pound of extra-lean ground turkey meat.

– 1/4 cup of whole wheat bread crumbs.

– 2 tablespoons of milk

– 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil.

– 3/4 teaspoon of salt.

– 3/4 teaspoon of pepper.

Instructions:

1. Place your ground turkey into a big bowl.

2. Put in the salt, pepper, bread crumbs, olive oil, and milk into the bowl.

3. Mix everything together.

4. Form your meatballs.

5. Place meatballs into a skillet over medium heat. Cook them for 3-4 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown.

6. Serve over your choice of pasta with the marinara sauce.

*** Note: You can add eggs and parmesan cheese into the mixture. I don’t because my lovely husband is allergic to eggs, and stays away from cheese. But I have made this recipe with the eggs and cheese for those who can have eggs and cheese, and it is also delicious. This recipe will make about a dozen meatballs, but it does depend on how big you make them.

Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

– 1 onion, chopped.

– 1 glove of garlic

– 1/2 a cup of extra-virgin olive oil

– 1 can of crushed tomatoes. I like the Trader Joe’s unsalted crushed tomatoes, or Red Gold.

– 1 can of tomato paste.

– 1 teaspoon of dried basil

– 1 teaspoon of dried oregano

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, heat the 1/2 cup of olive oil on medium heat.

2. Add the onions and garlic, cook until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the crushed tomatoes.

4. Add the tomato paste.

5. Stir everything together, and then turn the heat down to simmer. I usually let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

6. Serve over your choice of pasta and the turkey meatballs.

Well that is it folks! I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend! 🙂

Exercise Review

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you are all having a great week so far. Today I wanted to share with you a new exercise that I just tried. Every week I try to include either a new exercise, or I try new machine at the gym. I find that it challenges me more, and helps make going to the gym less boring. I found it on Fitness Magazine’s Pinterest page. The link to their website is below.

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/express/20-minute/back-and-butt-workout/?crlt.pid=camp.SuXOIYIIIAaq#page=2

This exercise targets your shoulders, abs, back, and butt. I did 4 sets of 15 reps. I did this yesterday and today my shoulders, legs, and butt are sore. I like this exercise because it targets different areas, and it can be another option to work those areas instead of getting on a machine. Or when you want to combine upper and lower body workouts. You can also do it at home if you can’t make it to the gym one day.

I will be adding this to my workout routine rotation and I hope that it inspires you to do the same thing!

Have a wonderful day! 🙂

Boyfriend Jeans

Hi Everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. I did not have to work this weekend so that was nice. We also celebrated my Dad’s birthday, and enjoyed some nice weather here.

Today I wanted to do a post about denim. At work we have been trained to become denim experts, and to know about the different styles of jeans, and what body type they will work best for. A pair of jeans is an investment, and finding a good quality pair that fits well is important. I also like to share different ways you can wear them during each of the seasons.

Today I wanted to share a boyfriend jeans outfit. Boyfriend jeans are more relaxed in the waist and in the legs and waist. I paired them with a t-shirt and sandals for a casual summer outfit, but they would also look great with a dressy top and either wedges or pumps.

I’ll do some more denim posts showing different types of jeans and share what you can pair them with. I also hope that this inspires to give boyfriend jeans a try.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope that you all have a great day! 🙂

First Post!

After being inspired by other blogs, I have finally decided to join the blogger bandwagon! I will be sharing my craft projects, recipes, and things about fashion. I will also share how I maintain a healthy lifestyle, some personal things, and my love for the Windy City and all things Chic! 🙂

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you will continue to follow along. 🙂