FIND OUR MISSING PREMIERES JANUARY 9TH ON TVONE AT 9/8C

photo retrieved at http://www.blackcelebritygiving.com/2012/10/tv-one-green-lights-acclaimed-docu-series-find-our-missing-for-a-second-season/

I did not pay much attention to this show before, but after catching a 5 episode rerun I’m hooked. There are so many people missing in the world ranging from toddlers to elders. That have been missing for years! TVONE has made it possible for us to help find these people and bring peace to their loved ones. The second season of Find Our Missing will premiere on Wednesday, January 9th at 9/8c. I will be tuning in and doing my part to spreading awareness. You should too!

Learn more about the show at http://tvone.tv/shows/find_our_missing.html

Tweet during the show using #FindOurMissing

THE SISTERHOOD SEASON 1 EPISODE 1: THOU SHALT NOT CROSS A 'FIRST LADY'



picture retrieved from http://www.vibevixen.com/2012/12/tlc-presents-preachers-wives-in-the-sisterhood/

        Another show that came on Tuesday on TLC for the first time is The Sisterhood. The show follows 5 ladies Ivy, Tara, Domonique, DeLana, and Christina; as they are dealing with being the first lady of the church and wife of a pastor. Yes, they are all really married to pastors even though not all of them have their own church, but they are qualified to lead a church if needed. I knew the show would be fire but I had no clue it would burn me! It gave me so much life and I was sitting on the edge of my seat! These ladies gave it all on a platter and we had no choice but to take it.

            We start the episode off meeting Christina and he husband Anthony who have their own church that very successful. I think of them as the funny couple because they had me laughing all night. Anthony made it clear that boys or having boyfriend to their daughters, Jasena and Jade, was off limits. He even went so far as to pull out a banana and condom to show them how to put it on. Christina chimed in letting them know that men can bumps and warts on their private area, but "she couldn't inspect the weenies for them" The girls then got history lesson from their dad about how in the past he caught stds not from unprotected sex but from not wearing protection  correctly. Their faces when he said I will get you condoms if needed was priceless I laughed till I cried he totally ruined bananas for them! I could actually appreciate the lesson because we don't see that these days. Parents taking time to not only talk to their kids about it but show them how to be safe. The realness of the situation stuck with me. Those two might have strict rules but their eyes are wide open when it comes to issues teenagers might face.

            After that was Tara and her husband Brian whom just moved to Atlanta for fresh start. Tara appears to be the this tall, health nut, body builder, quoting the Bible every 5 seconds, long weave, too much make-up wearing princess Barbie. Brian on the hand is fit like his wife, but he is way shorter and it looks like Tara could throw him across the room if she was angry enough. I like them because Brian has a weird personality and they're like an open book, maybe a little too open. At the dinner, with other wives and husbands they shared some of their problem as a interracial couple. His parents didn't approve of him marring an African-American Christian woman. Even though him and his father are on speaking terms he still refuses to meet their 3 small children. Her mother also disapprove of him being a Caucasian Jewish man ( Not to mention her mom dates outside her race too, I don't get it.)even though he's a Christian now. I'm not sure about that because Brian made a lot of Jewish remarks that made heads turn at that dinner table. Then we were taken into their life before they moved. "You not married until the cops come to your house" Brian said so I'm guessing they had physical trouble with the in-laws before. It was also shared that they really had no friend or family and Brian had been fired from the last church he worked. Now all of that was a bit much to share when just meeting everybody, but notice they left out why he was fired. Like I said I like them but something is up. A person has to do a whole hell of a lot to get kick out of God's house. Tara gave a brief explanation, but I'm not buying he was let go for a small thing like his wife removing her shoes during worship. Come on now! She reminds me of Jackie from BBWLA delusional

            Ivy let viewers into her home next. She's a former member of Xscape (I don't remember her, but ok.) and her husband name is Mark. They have their own church and a beautiful son who is a toddler. I appreciated the realness and how smooth her husband is lol! He was like I got a gift for you, and we all thinking is jewelry or something. Mark shocked the viewers when Ivy opened the gift and it was a pair of handcuffs. He went on to let his wife know he wanted her to wear those for him naked that night. Personally, I was not surprised it no secret how most preachers get down I'm just saying. Marriage should be spicy though.

            Now we move on to Domonique has 4 kids with husband Brian. The two had a church but had to close the doors due to financial trouble. She is my favorite so far; she is bold, her hair was layed out, and she wasn't afraid to talk about her past drug issues I loved it! The money issue put a strain on the couple's marriage, but they are working through it  The tour of Christina's church was hard for them to go through. Domonique's look screams high class church lady. We even saw how she had the church lady whisper down when Ivy was gossiping with her about what Tara and Brian revealed at dinner; since Domonique wasn't there. At that point she had to meet miss Tara, so she invited her over to her house along with Ivy to witness. Everything was going well until made one too many bible reference. That's when Domonique let her know a simple conversation didn't require a scripture every 2 seconds, Tara then told her she could quote Jesus whenever she wanted and she wasn't going to talk to her like that!(I see why her husband got fired) Ivy tried to chime in but it got heated from there. It's safe to say these two won't be getting along

Once again I will say this show is hot and so real. We didn't meet DeLana yet maybe she will be on next week's episode. Tune in Tuesdays at 9/8c because if you haven't you're missing out!

Tweet during the show using #Sisterhood

Learn more about the show at www.tlc.com

TOTALLY T-BOZ SEASON1 EPISODE 1: STARTING OFF NEW AGAIN

Picture retrieved from http://www.rhymeswithsnitch.com/2012/12/totally-t-boz.html

Last night was the premiere episode of Totally T-Boz and it did not disappoint. I was truly entertained as we all got to look into the life of T-Boz (Tionne Walkins) of TLC. The episode started with her introducing herself to us and giving some background on TLC as well as some of her own personal struggles. She had a brain tumor that took her vision, speech, and balance and went through a very public divorce. It was refreshing to see T-Boz in her own element but it will take some getting use to because I’m a big TLC fan.

Not only did we meet Tionne outside of the group but we met some of her family and friends too. There is her daughter Chase (she looks just like her dad), Chilli of course, brother Kayo and cousin Chris (both are very easy on the eyes), Tae-Tae who is like her assistant (she is crazy love her!), cousin Barb, and friend Tara that is also her personal shopper. They all seem to have a hand in making Tionne into the T-Boz we know and love. Tae-Tae is wild and crazy and just wants her cousin name out there. (Like we don’t know it already) When she received a call from a radio station saying they were having a no scrubs singing contest at the mall and wanted T-boz to appear she jumped on it. It was a really cool contest even though T-Boz was not feeling it at first but by the end she had a great time. Another wild personality was Tara and I can tell why they’re friends. Honestly though she rubbed me the wrong way. Her saying “I’ll tell you if you have an ugly baby” I really didn’t like that because I believe no baby is ugly. Not only that I also wonder what she considers attractive in men because Mack 10 is very handsome. I did get my life when Tae Tae read her for responding to a question she asked Tionne. She says “I’m not talking to you I was talking to T-boz” lol!.  This is the first episode so I will give Tara another chance.

All episode we have heard T-Boz say she wants to be a solo artist and not just a member of TLC, and she been pushing it back for years. (That’s why she moved after all) The only problem is that the group’s 20^th anniversary is coming up and she’s being told by their manager that should be a main priority. Then the news of going solo hasn’t been broken to Chilli. She makes it clear that this time her solo career will come first. When she and Chilli are asked to make a cameo in a TLC tribute Waterfalls video done by the group Stooshe; it is the perfect opportunity to break the news to Chilli since she’ll be flying in from Atlanta. We don’t get to that part until end of the episode when Chilli is about to leave for home. They sit and Chilli is going on and on about how excited she is about going tour and writing new songs. That’s when she is hit with a bomb that TLC will not be the only main priority for T-boz. At that point, she makes it clear that she’s not happy and that it should be the only priority because she also put things on hold for the group too. In the end they agree to disagree.

Overall, I love this show and will continue to watch. We got to see T-Boz in the studio and meeting with producers so the music is coming! I can’t wait! The show airs Tuesday at 8/7 c on TLC.

Tweet live during the show using #Totallytboz

Learn more about the show at http://www.tlc.com/

 

Oh and check out Stooshe's tribute video:

 

video retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BvFd5JLpxw&feature=player_embedded

 

 

 

TOTALLY T-BOZ AND THE SISTERHOOD TONIGHT ON TLC

Picture retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_(band)

As I was watching past episodes of Sister Wives it made me want to go to TLC website for more information. That is when I came across two shows Totally T-boz premiering January 1 8/7c as well as The Sisterhood also start tonight  at 9/8c. This is the first season for both reality shows!

Totally T-Boz: The show will follow member of girl group TLC Tionne "T-Boz" Walkins as she makes the move from Atlanta to Los Angeles with her daughter Chase. Her plan is to reinvent herself (Like only a member of TLC can) and jump start her solo career.

Now if you been living under a rock all these years and don't know who T-Boz or TLC let me give you some history. TLC is one of the biggest girl groups of the 1990s and early 2000s. The group consist of  Tionne "T-Boz" Walkins, Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, and the late Lisa "Lefteye" Lopes. They have sold over 20 million records, had ten top 10 hits, and four #1 hits. Their songs include Ain't to Proud to Beg, Creep, Waterfall, and many others. The group faced many struggles, including bankruptcy, but overcame them and continued their success until the untimely passing of Lisa Lopes in 2002. Tionne and Rozonda decided there could be no TLC without her and ended the group.

This is great way for TLC fan (like myself) to see what miss T-Boz has been up to. she has over came some personal struggles of her own like her divorce with rapper Mack 10 and a brain tumor. This is going to be interesting and I will be watching

 

You can tweet during the show using #TOTALLYTBOZ

 

picture retrieved from http://www.vibevixen.com/2012/12/tlc-presents-preachers-wives-in-the-sisterhood/

 

The Sisterhood: This show follows 5 preachers wives or "First Ladies" and the lives they live. The cast is Christina Murray, Ivy Couch ,Tara Lewis, Domonique Scott, and DeLana Rutherford. Now I must warn you these are not the traditional quiet long dress wearing preachers' wives these are the 2013 wives lol! Honestly I'm not surprised because I'm from the south and the wives here are less traditional than they use to be. That is what actually made me interested because they remind me of what I'm use to seeing in a preacher's wife these days. I do see some of "reality show" personalities  in these women that are in most reality shows based on the clip I seen but I have to wait to tune in to find out for sure. These woman seem sassy and look like they don't take no mess my only concern is that others may not be as understanding as me of how they act and dress and have ill feeling about church and religion in general but like I said I have to watch to see for sure. Overall I think the show will be hot and I will be tuning in!

 

You can also tweet during this show using #SISTERHOOD

Learn more about both shows at www.tlc.com

 

 

EASY & SIMPLE RECIPES: USING LEFTOVER CHRISTMAS HAM: HAM AND GOAT CHEESE CARBONARA

It became a clear the minute I turned on the food network channel and saw the recipe being made that Carbonara would become my favorite thing to make. Carbonara is also considered Italian bacon and eggs because its spaghetti pasta, cheese, and bacon tossed in an egg sauce (talk about a twist on breakfast) In the beginning I would make it different versions of it using roman noodle I was Carbonara crazy. I would try different cheese and meats and it was always great. That when it occurred to me this dish will work with any pasta that can be tossed in a tomato or cream sauce.  It won’t be the traditional Carbonara of course, but a yummy quick meal anytime of the day it will be.

Now that Christmas is over we all have plenty of leftovers from that 15lb ham we’re trying to rid ourselves of. This is also that time of year where we don’t mind spending a little extra for the chesses we love. (Actually, I was making this long before the holidays, but you get my drift) This is the perfect after Christmas meal to make. Now get up and get ready to make your family an after Christmas breakfast they will not forget!

Before we get started I want to share a few tricks to making great Carbonara. First don’t add any milk or cream. I know I too thought it had cream because the sauce is soo dreamy creamy, but there is none. The next thing is don’t scramble the eggs. I mean if you do a little bit its ok because scrambled and ham is yummy but that’s not what you want to shoot for. A nice smooth sauce is what you want.

 

INGREDIENTS:

-A Package of Pasta, uncooked (About 4 cups)

-1tsp Dijon Mustard

-2 Eggs

- ½ tsp. Salt

-1 tsp. black Pepper

-1 cup Cooked Ham, Chopped

-2 tsp. Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil

½ cup Goat Cheese

-4-6 cups of water

Serves: 4

1. In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil. Add 1tsp of oil, salt, and pasta. Cook until al dente according to package directions and strain. (I used spaghetti and it took about 9 minutes)

2. In a pan, heat the other teaspoon of oil on Medium heat. Sauté ham for 1 minute just to heat through and release the flavors

3. Add pasta to the pan and toss until the pasta is combined with the ham. Remove from heat.

4. In a bowl combine eggs, pepper, and mustard. Whisk the mixture constantly for 1 minute.

5. Pour the mixture over the pasta and toss it lightly. Place over Medium-low heat and add cheese. Continue cooking just until cheese melts. Enjoy!

Tips

*The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs, so to save on cooking time add the cheese to the egg mixture.

*Ham can be really salty along and with salting the pasta water it is best to taste before deciding to add more salt to this dish.

 

 

TWINING'S TEA REVIEW & CHAI TEA RECIPE

Even if you like me and never tried Twining’s tea you know the name just as well as I do. What? Am I the only die hard 50 shade of gray fan that read all 3 books and knows that Anastasia Steele drink Twining’s English Breakfast Tea? That right when I saw the sample offer I jumped on it for that reason and I was not disappointed.

Personally, I prefer my tea strong and my coffee weak, so my experience was slightly different from Ana who hated coffee and preferred a weaker version of her favorite drink. I received several samples: 2 English breakfast and many Chai teas. I tried both of the breakfast teas and the French vanilla chai tea. The tea bags come in these red packages with the flavor written on the front and a list of ingredients it’s so cute. The bags themselves are old school and I love that with the long string and paper logo at the end. It gives a real “let’s sit down” tea time feel because some tea brands have removed the string but that takes away from the product if you ask me.

Now if you’re not familiar with these type of teas they are black tea. This means it can get as dark as coffee and that is just the way I like it. My first sip was heaven it was the color of coffee but with a strong robust flavor. I did add some sugar but to be honest I didn’t need any it’s good as is. Chai tea is usually black tea, spices, milk, and sweetener butTwining’s has the tea and spices covered you just need to add the milk and sweetener quick and easy. It also comes in many flavors. That orignal sip was very spicy and delicious but too strong for my taste I was actually sweating! There was a very nice flavor there but the cardamom in it made the tea a bit harsh but that’s great for sweating out a cold so I put the rest of the chai tea away for those times but I will be using that 15% they gave off to buy a whole box of English Breakfast tea.

 

 

I know I gave you all a drink recipe , but that what winter is about to me. Bundled in a blanket , having a snack ,watching tv,  all while sipping a hot drink. This is where this recipe came from. Right before I got the tea samples I was testing homemade chai tea recipes using some tea I had on hand. Twining’s gave me more teas to work with and that when it all came together right.

YOU WILL NEED:

6 cups of water

4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

½ cup cream or dry coffee creamer

A pinch of cayenne pepper

2 tsps vanilla

4 Twinings English Breakfast tea bags

½ cup sugar or ¼ cup honey

Serves: 4

1.      Place water, cayenne pepper, and pumpkin pie spice in a pot. Cover and bring to a boil over Medium-high heat.

2.      Add in cream and sugar/honey. Continue to boil uncovered on Medium for 1 minute.

3.      Remove from heat and add vanilla.

4.      Place a tea bag into each serving mug.

5.      Pour some of the hot liquid into each mug and stir.

6.      Steep 5-6 minutes and serve.

*Tips

*Easy Holiday Gift: Chai tea mix: In clean dry jars combined 1cup sugar,1cup dry coffee creamer,1/2 TBsp pumpkin pie spice,1/8 tsp cayenne pepper. Tie some colorful ribbon around each jar and hand them out to your friends and family along with some black tea bags for a gift that keeps on giving. Dissolve 1TBsp of the mix in a cup of boiling water and pour over a tea bag for tea pefect cup of tea!

   *Keep the chai tea mix in a dry area to keep it fresh .

   *Everyone likes their tea differently so when serving  a crowd tea of any kind leave the bags in to allow guest to remove when they desire.

 

 

 

KEEBLER CINNAMON ROLL COOKIE REVIEW & CARAMEL LATTE RECIPE

I been away dealing with that toothache from hell but I came across a product that I just to review. Keebler caramel pecan cinnamon rolls cookies. They are little pieces of heaven! That is when I had a thought why not make drink to go along with these lovely cookies.

       I don’t know why but when something has caramel in it I have to smell it so I open the bag of cookies and inhale. It smells of a very spicy caramel aroma I would probably wear it as perfume if I could. After I came off my caramel high I pull out the plastic tray that is divided into 6 sections with about 4 cookies in each one. First of all, that is a lot of cookies how great is that but from the package I thought I was going to get a simple cinnamon roll shaped cookie. Boy was I wrong!

     They are these thin, soft molasses tasting cookies with a cinnamon icing over them just like the real thing with a hint of caramel. After tasting them they were delicious, but as much as I love caramel I was screaming WHERE IS THE PECANS! Just as I was about to panic I got these small pecan clusters I really must learn to be patient lol. They say you’re not supposed to eat sweets in the morning but if I couldn’t get that cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven these cookies would be my next choice. This is why my double caramel latte goes perfect with these cookies.

 

 

Now you know how it is when you want that coffee house coffee but have no coffee house money. We all have gotten in the kitchen and made a form of caramel coffee by putting that store-brought caramel syrup in a mug, added coffee, and milk. The only problem with that is it is yucky and not coffee house at all. As crazy as I am about caramel I had to find a better way. I finally got it right, but I fell in love with those Nescafe Mementos and combine the two to make it even better. That how this drink for those yummy cookies was born! It has all the flavors of that gourmet coffee we love!

The secret is it is homemade caramel and you can make it in advance and keep it on hand for other things. It’s quick, easy, and addictive!

You will need:

¼ cup butter (1/2 a stick)

½ cup brown sugar

6TBsp heavy cream

4 packets of  Nescafe Memento Caramel Latte

½ tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

4 cups water (really hot but not boiling)

Whipped cream (optional)

Serves:4

1.      In a saucepan on Medium-low heat melt butter.

2.      Take the pan off the heat and whisk in cinnamon and sugar until well combined.

3.      Place pan back over Medium heat. Do Not stir at this point just swirl the pan occasionally around until the mixture starts to boil. Let boil for 1 minute.

4.      Whisk in the cream and turn heat back down to Medium-low. (don’t want the mixture to boil at this point) Whisk constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk another minute.

5.      Divide the caramel into 4 mugs equally. Stir in the content of one Nescafe packet into each mug combined well

6.      Add about a cup of water to each mug, top with whipped cream, and serve with Keebler cinnamon roll caramel pecan cookies Yum!

Tips:

*Don’t like caramel? You can use any flavor that you like in your coffee.

*No Nescafe Memento on hand? 1tsp instant coffee and a little cream will do the trick! Cut back on the water course.

*Want more foam action? Replace the water with hot milk. Place the hot milk carefully in a blender. Blend for 1 minute before adding it to your mug.