Pinterest Recipe Review: Oven Toasted Ravioli

My hubs and I have been hearing about toasted ravioli's and have really wanted to try them. I mean we love raviolis and we like crunchy food so it would be amazing right? Then I saw this recipe on Pinterest and I was sold- it was easy too!

Here is the recipe, directly from Plain Chicken:

12 round frozen ravioli, thawed
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
6 Tbps Italian bread crumbs (I used Progresso brand)
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together egg and milk in shallow bowl.  In another bowl or pie plate, combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  Dip ravioli in egg and then in bread crumbs.  Place on baking sheet.  Repeat until all ravioli are coated.  Spray ravioli with cooking spray.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with warm marinara or pesto.

Ok, I followed the recipe to a T and it was super bland. Matt and I didn't really care at all about it, and we were pretty bummed after being so excited about it. I want to try it again and here is what I plan on doing differently:
-Use only 4-5 Tbps of bread crumbs
-Mix in garlic and basil with the crumbs
-Maybe sprinkle on some cayenne?

If you have any toasted ravioli recipes, please share! This is a dish we want to try again!

The Mayans Must Be Right...

the world must be ending because I'm a brunette! 

I've never had dark hair before and with my last hair appointment, I just went for it! Wait, that was a lie. I did go dark my freshman year during Greek Week when I was playing Chicago's Roxy Hart for lip sync, but the look didn't stick. It was from a box, and NOT a good look. Especially when I'm supposed to be a blonde character-thank goodness for wigs! So I guess this is brunette 2.0.... anyways, I'm still rocking the ombre, so I have a touch of blonde at my tips, but whoa is it so much darker! I'm not used to it yet, but I love the color. We'll see how long I keep it, but for now it's staying.

Here is the pic I shared on Instagram (Kristen_Lawler) the day after the big change. 

These pics are from when I got home from the salon. 

Here it is a few weeks and washes later. 

It looks so different in varying lights and sometimes looks much darker than other times. I'm still loving the ombre look into fall and it's such an easy way to transition to a darker color. If you want to see my ombre transition, the looks are here and here. 

If you're wondering about going ombre, I would say do it! There's a lot of different ways and to go and colors to choose. You can have it as subtle or extreme as you like, but it does look better the more often you do it. My second and third round have turned out much better than my first time, only because I was so blonde, it's hard to achieve the look when you have highlights all over. 

Hope you guys are enjoying the short work week, I'm loving it!

My 5 Style Icons

The other day I was flipping through InStyle's September issue and got to thinking about style. They feature one celebrity's top 10 best dressed moments (this month it's Emma Stone) and I usually always agree on their chosen outfits (although, I do think they miss one every now and then). I love this feature and think it's fun to see someone's best fashion moments. 

I started wondering who I think has the best style- someone who looks fabulous day to day and from year to year. There are so many gorgeous women in the world and I love seeing what they choose to wear. Celebrities have so much at their fingerprints and events of all occasions to wear exciting new items. I thought I'd feature who I think always looks the best and has best style all around.

So after much deliberation, here is my top 5 women who I think always look amazing. These five look gorgeous at every event and I would love to raid their closets and have their hair! I wanted to do a little blurb about each one, but the reason I love each of their style is the same: they always look feminine, classy, sexy, and push the trends without ever over-doing it.

Blake Lively

 

Kate Middleton

Emma Stone

Mila Kunis

Miranda Kerr

Aren't they gorgeous? Don't they always look stunning? I think these women will always look that way too, style stays with people, it doesn't just disappear after a season (or movie promo trail). Their looks will still look great in years to come. What I love about their style too, is that it doesn't seem like they're trying too hard. They care about what they wear, they choose pieces that flatter themselves, and they're just working simple pieces in a mega way.

Who do you think are today's style icons? What do you think of my picks? I can't wait to see who you choose!

Hot Man Parade

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Can you believe September starts tomorrow? Eeeek, where has the year gone?

Any suggestions for future HMPs? Sam Clafin (the new Finnick) was suggested last week, and wa-la, he's here now! I'm always on the lookout for a new guy to add! 

Shopping Fall Trends

Last weekend on my way back from visiting my sister in San Diego, I stopped by to visit my sister/brother-in-law and the SIL and I did some shopping. I was pretty restrained, but found some gorgeous pieces at HandM, I'm gonna have to go back and snag a few of them!

Sadly, summer is quickly coming to an end. Two weeks ago, it was still light outside when I left for work and now it's dark. On top of that, all of the September issues have come out. Then, if that wasn't a reminder enough, I've heard reports of Christmas tree displays! Christmas! Geez louise. I'm trying to soak up every last bit of summer I can; wearing all of my tanks, dresses, and shorts before it's too late.

One thing that is helping ease the pain of the end of summer is all the gorgeous fall trends! There's some amazing trends coming up that I'm looking forward to sporting. 

Here's some of my favorites (click pictures to their links):

Hunter Green

This color looks great on all skin tones and pairs well with your basics, plus royal blue and rich gold.

Richly Hued Bags

I love burgundy in the fall! It pairs so weel with other rich colors and a deep colored bag adds to every outfit. Seriously want to run and buy this right now, and I'm kicking myself for not buying it last weekend! It's a beautiful color and great size.

Jeweled Collars

These pretty little pieces are all over blog land and stores. It's so chic and adds such a beautiful touch to a t-shirt and jeans or your sheath dress.

Printed Bottoms

Jeans and leggings are getting a make-over this season with lots of fun prints. Fantastic to bring some life to the cold season.

Arm Candy

I love a cuff by itself, but it also looks great paired with dainty feminine bracelets.

Jeweled Hair

I've seen blinged out hair on the red carpet, but I think it's easy to wear in real life and to the office with a chic headband or detailed barettes.

These are my favorite pieces I've seen so far, but there's so many amazing trends this fall like brocade, military details, and oxblood. I'm hoping to add just a few pieces that I can wear and re-wear for years.

What are you looking forward to wearing this season? What's your favorite trend?