Thai Lettuce Wraps

I made these amazing Thai Lettuce Wraps for lunch this week. They are a mix between a little spice and a lot of Thai flavor. The combination of herbs and seasonings also provide the perfect taste to a delicious mid-day lunch or dinner. It is light and refreshing, so you won't have that weighed down feeling after eating. 

Thai Lettuce Wraps

1 lb. ground chicken

1 tbsp. canola oil (to cook the chicken)

2 garlic cloves, minced

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp. chili powder

2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1/4 c. red onion, sliced thin

1/2 c. mint, finely chopped

1/2 c. basil, finely chopped

1/2 c. cilantro, finely chopped

3 green onion sprigs, chopped

1 head of bib lettuce

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in skillet and cook for a few minutes. While meat is still a little pink add the juice of the lime, minced garlic cloves, chili powder, jalapeno, and fish sauce. Stir to combine and continue until cooked through. Let cool off of burner for 5-7 minutes. Add onion, mint, basil, cilantro, and green onion. Stir to combine. Spoon mixture into individually washed and patted dry bib lettuce leaves. Makes 10-15 leaves (depending on how much you want to eat). Enjoy!  

So Nice We Had to Have it Twice

So this happened again. We tried the brunch at Oddfellows....so we went back for dinner. Trust me when I tell you that we went on another day. I mean I'm not that greedy (sarcasm). 

I ordered the salmon farro and the hubby ordered the fried chicken. 

The salmon farro was magnificent. It is placed in an amazing lemon butter sauce that I wanted to pour in my mouth. It was topped with fried leekes and flat leaf parsley. It came with two sides so I ordered the house salad and mac & cheese. Oddfellows is known for their mac & cheese so I had to try it. It was topped with bread crumbs and my friends that was not the best part. I would have liked them toasted a bit with some butter and then maybe placed in the oven. It was almost as if they were scooped out of a big dish, plopped into a bowl and then topped with some bread crumbs. For the amount you pay, I think we can do better people. The salmon was great, not very flavorful but the lemon butter sauce helped. I think if the salmon was too flavorful it would have taken away from the sauce. Overall, I liked the meal but would probably order a different side. 

The hubby ordered fried chicken. Same seasoning and loveliness from the brunch meal.

In the middle of our feast you can see the beignets. 

You know we had to order more of those!

I liked the dinner menu. They had a lot of great choices and I know we will be back. I have my eye on a few different items that I must try. 

Oddfellows

We went to an amazing restaurant in the Bishop Arts District in Dallas. Oddfellows is a quaint little restaurant consisting of maybe 30 tables and a bar. We had the wonderful opportunity to visit them for brunch and it was soooo delightful. When we arrived we had to wait, it was a Sunday, after church, and it was beautiful outside, so.......There were some benches and tables outside so we sat (for almost an hour) and waited. After about 30 minutes a nice waitress came outside with some delicious, hot beignets. THANK YOU!!!!

We were later given a table and ordered more beignets. I ordered the green chile scramble, which consisted of eggs, salsa verde, brisket, mozzarella, and topped with tortilla strips. It came with a side of fruit and nut bread. So delicious.

Please excuse the horrible phone pics. I keep forgetting my camera. I need to do better with that. 

The hubby had fried chicken and waffles. The seasoning on the chicken was perfect, not too salty, not too spicy. There were three bountiful pieces of chicken that consisted of two thighs and a breast. The meal came with fruit and whipped cream.

Here are the beignets. They came with a side of lemon and honey. They go really heavy with the powdered sugar. Yes Please!!!! 

Here's the super cool restaurant. 

So if you are looking for a cool little brunch spot, definitely hit up Oddfellows. 

I'm not paid for this. I just like good food and want to share! 

Cajun Crab Tilapia

The best fish ever!!!! I totally made this up. I love when I get in the kitchen and just use my imagination. I got really lucky with this because honestly, I have had some major disasters! This tester turned out amazing. 

Cajun Crab Tilapia

4 tilapia filets

1 tbsp. Tony Chachere's Seasoning (any cajun seasoning will do)

1 tsp. olive oil

Cajun Dip*

Combine seasoning with olive oil and mix. After washing tilapia, dry off with paper towel so there is not water or moisture on them. Place fish in the pan you are baking in and rub the seasoning mixture all over the tilapia. Top each piece of fish with the cajun crab dip. You can go as heavy as you would like. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until tilapia flakes using a fork. 

*Cajun Dip

1/2 lb. imitation crab meat

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. sour cream

1tbsp. hot sauce

1/2 tbsp. Worchestershire sauce

1/2 tbsp. cajun seasoning

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Cream/Mix all ingredients, except crab, together until smooth. Add crab meat and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for 3 hrs. so seasonings can set. 

Etouffee with Sauteed Kale

This Etouffee was absolutely delicious.

Shrimp and Chicken Etouffee

2 lb. Shrimp peeled and deveined (Steamed)

16 oz. Free Range Organic Chicken Broth

1 Red, Green, and Orange Bell Pepper 

3 Celery Stalks

1 Yellow Onion

4 cloves garlic

3 skinless Chicken Thighs cooked and de-boned*

4 tbsp. Butter (unsalted)

2 tbsp. flour

4 tbsp. Tony Chacheres' Cajun Seasoning

Coat shrimp with 3 tbsp of Cajun Seasoning. Steam shrimp and place to the side. Dice bell peppers, celery, onion, and garlic. Sautee veggies in 1 tbsp. butter for 3-5 minutes. Shred de-boned chicken thighs and place to the side. In large stock pot or dutch oven, melt 3 tbsp. butter. Once melted add flour and wisk combining flour and butter together (you are making a roux). It will be lumpy so be sure that you are mixing fast. Continue to cook until you have the desired color of your roux. The longer you cook, the darker the color. Be sure not to burn which can happen if you stop stirring or your fire is too high. You Tube "roux' if you want to see the different colors. Add Chicken Stock and stir. Once heated through add veggies and meat. Let simmer for 15 minutes and taste. You may need to add more (the rest of the seasoning) depending on if you need more salt. The shrimp seasoning will go into the soup so you may not need to add any. 

*The chicken is just baked with Italian seasoning at 375 degrees until cooked through. Then de-boned and shredded. You want to bake it with the bone to allow the flavor. 

Serve over rice (we used brown)

FYI: The green and white stuff is sauteed kale and parmesan. I just put it in the same bowl. 

Mini Vacay

See These Yummy things!!! They are Geauxsicles

  

I posted this yummy picture because if you are ever in Shereveport, LA you need to get these ASAP!  

Geauxsicles uses real, wholesome ingredients to make their delicious popsicles. They are quite good! 

I had the honey, lemon, and strawberry pop. It was quite tangy but perfect for a summer day. It's actually called Summertime. 

 

Little Miss K. eating her Strawberry Chance pop.

 

 

After the popsicle extravaganza we went to Margaritaville Casino and Hotel. Mr. Lovely was looking for a place to watch LSU play.  This place was pretty cool and they gave us fun Wiki-Sticks to play with.

 

 

We wanted to try Strawn's Pies. They have been written about in Southern Living Magazine. They are known for their Strawberry Pie. We got that and the Chocolate and they both were amazing. 

 

  

These amazing apples are so HUGE!! Honeycrisps are in season and they are so good!

This is Little Miss K. making her first roux for the Etouffee that we made. 

Here is the Etouffee. The Greenery is sauteed Kale topped with shaved parmesan. 

This was a very exciting and delicious experience for us. We are a cooking and eating family. Stay tuned for the Etouffee recipe. 

Fall is Here

Fall has officially arrived and I am taking full advantage. I've been snapping pics whenever I see or like something festive. 

This lovely picture is from Yankee Candle. Their holiday candle holders are so cute. I love to visit their store and check out what they have. I TOTALLY want the train! 

This candle smells so amazing. This is definitely on my list for fall candle scents. 

Yes this poor cake is half ate...LOL! I made an amazing pumpkin bundt cake for a friend at works birthday. I got the recipe from Mix and Match Mama

These yummies were definitely one of the first things in my cart. Truth be told I really can't decide if I like them or not. They taste like there is a coating on the outside of the chocolate??? 

These were calling my name. Mr. Lovely always says he hates the taste of pumpkin but he had noooooo problem finishing off the pumpkin cheesecake cookies. 

Of course a pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks....duh! 

Fall Fashion

So I went shopping minus spending any money a few weekends ago. Ya see hubby has me on this new plan where I have to window shop and make lists.......LAME. No more spur of the moments, rush of excitement, roller coaster ride to fashion, etc.....deep sigh. 

So while out, I took a bunch of photos of clothes that I love. It seems like I really don't need to purchase much. I have a lot of jackets similar to the ones pictured. I also have a few ankle booties which are all the rage right now in the blog/pinterest world. I am digging the corduroy off white pants though in the first photo. 

Maybe the hubby has a point.....evaluate what ya already got and then accessorize. 

End of Summer Visits

This weekend was quite eventful. Between the wedding reception, Labor Day traffic, and out of towners who have no idea where anything is in my town!!!! *Google map it! I must say that we found the time to actually enjoy ourselves and EAT!

Mr. Lovely is a salesman. He has to go to different areas of town daily. On Saturday he decided to work and extra day and have me accompany him. Well of course I got hungry! P-Diddy and Mr. Lovely were telling me about QuikTrip/RaceTrac hot dogs. They always say how amazing they are and that I really need to try them. WELL......I finally did and let me be the first to say that they are SOOOOOOO good. I had no idea and they are 2 for $2.22. WHAT! (I really need to stop with all the caps lock) I had the jalapeno cheddar hot dog. They have buns that they keep in a warmer and lots of ketchup, mustard, onions, etc. for you to use. I'm a ketchup and mustard only kind of girl.

I do not go easy on condiments!

On Sunday we had a wedding reception to go to so we pretty much just ate there.

Monday I had a few errands to run so we decided to try a few places. We went to the new Trader Joe's on Greenville Ave. It was amazing and I promise to have a post about that soon.

The restaurant of choice was Chicken Scratch in Oak Cliff. This is a really unique type of restaurant that pretty much serves fried chicken. They have salads that you can add rotisserie chicken to but once you see the other tables devouring, eating their yummy plates, you will definitely wish you would have not chosen the salad.
I had the buffalo sandwich and of course Mr. Lovely had the plain. He is not an experimenter like me. Here is a pic of mine. No need to show his lameness.

The buffalo is a yummy concoction of fried chicken thigh, buffalo sauce, pickled celery, and blue cheese, all on a HUGE buttermilk biscuit. You can order sides also but I just had the sandwich.

The atmosphere is super casual with picnic benches, cactus, and rocks to give it a southern Texas feel. There are paper towels on each table and the plates are tin. This is a really cool place to go and I definitely recommend.

Afterward we went to my favorite snow cone spot. Aunt Stelle's Sno Cones has been open for years and it never disappoints. There are a ton of flavors but I prefer the strawberry. The ice is shaved just right to allow it to melt in your mouth with little crunch. The strawberry is not too sugary and you can definitely taste the flavor without all the processed sugar aftertaste. The prices are really reasonable but I would take cash (they might be cash only, I am not sure.).

It was a great tasty weekend!

School has officially started

This was my first week back to school. Let me just say that I missed summer all week. I was ready to teach my new students but I really missed the pool, hanging out, and late mornings.

I stopped drinking coffee over the summer. There was really no reason to have the caffeine. Well this week I welcomed it with open arms. Our sweet PTA brought around a yummy breakfast for us on Thursday. They had coffee and orange juice for us to drink. I am not a fan of orange juice so I had a cup of coffee. I was in HEAVEN!

My new students are really sweet.
At the end of the week one of my students asked if she could go home with me. LOL! I had to explain that my house is really boring and I don't have anything fun at my house for kids!

This week was all about behavior, establishing rules and procedures, and learning all about their little lives. We read a lot of books and had a lot of discussions. A few of my students are super talkers. I feel bad because I am a super talker too. I want them to learn that there is a time and place for talking. I've been thinking about reading this book:

It's about a little owl that loves to talk but loses her voice. She has to learn to be a better listener.

We have also started implementing this:

Here is some info on it.
Scholastic

It's pretty cool and each afternoon we discuss if anyone has had their bucket filled or if they filled someones. I like to have talk time in the morning and afternoon. I feel like the students have a time to connect with each other, engage in meaningful conversations, and share about their lives. It's also a great time for me to correct their English. ;-)

Desire's Shrimp and Grits

While in New Orleans I ate the best Shrimp and Grits I have ever had. Royal Sonesta's restaurant Desire is famous for their Shrimp and Grits and I had to recreate at home. I found the recipe and it did not disappoint. I followed the recipe almost to a "T". I skipped out on the grilling aspect of the shrimp. I ended up sauteing them with the same seasonings minus the beer for basting. I didn't marinate them either. Here is the recipe if you feel like being creative.

Desire Grilled Shrimp and Grits

Serves 10

Ingredients

2lb. Gulf Shrimp Peeled and de-veined

1c. Herb oil

To Taste Creole seasoning

2T. Unsalted Butter

2T. Olive oil

1 clove Garlic pealed and chopped

1 bottle domestic beer

3T. Parmesan, grated

1lb. Tasso Ham, diced

1 tsp. Olive oil

4 each green onions, sliced (reserve some sliced green tops for garnish)

2 oz. White wine

1T. Creole seasoning blend

½ tsp. Cayenne pepper

½ c. Roasted red peppers, pealed and diced (canned is fine)

1c. Alfredo Sauce

2C. Prepared Yellow Stone Ground Grits

Instructions:

Mix gulf shrimp in herb oil in a bowl, cover and marinate over night. (I didn't do this)

Melt 2T. butter, olive oil, 1 clove chopped garlic, 1 bottle of beer and Parmesan and hold beside grill for basing shrimp. (I didn't do this)

Warm Grits on the grill side burner, cover and hold for service

In a heavy pan on the grill side burner, brown Tasso with 1 tsp. Olive oil. When Tasso is brown add green onion bottoms, creole seasoning and cayenne pepper and cool for 2-3 minutes until onion are tender. Add white wine and cook for five minutes until mixture reduces to half its volume. Add roasted red peppers and alfredo sauce and bring to a simmer. Add salt if necessary. Hold beside grill for service.

When grill is hot, drain shrimp from marinade and line on the grill across the grates so that they don’t fall through. Sprinkle with Creole Seasoning or salt. Brush basting sauce as they cook, being careful not to let them burn. Once they are cooked, spoon grits into 10 eight-ounce bowls. Place 4-5 shrimp on top of grits in each bowl. Smother with tasso gravy and garnish with green onions. Bon Appetite

Herb Oil:

2C. Salad Oil (canola oil)

4 cloves Garlic pealed

2 heads shallots, pealed and quartered

4 ea. Bay leaves

1T. Ground black pepper

1 bunch parsley, cleaned and dried

1T. Basil, fresh or dry

1 T. Thyme

1T. Red pepper flakes

2 ea. Whole green onions

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth

Alfredo:

1C. Whole Milk

1C. Heavy Cream

2 cloves garlic chopped

2T. butter

2T. flour

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. white pepper

½ c. grated parmesan cheese

In 2 qt. sauce pan melt butter and cook garlic over medium heat. Do not brown. Add flour and stir with wooden spoon or wisk until flour absorbs all of the butter. Add ½ c. of the mild and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Add remaining mild and cream and return to a simmer, continuing to stir. Do not allow to stick on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low, add salt and pepper and cook for 15 minutes, stirring to keep sauce from sticking on the bottom of the pan. Add parmesan and stir until parmesan is melted. Remove from heat. 

Grits: Adapted from: Southern Living Cheese Grits

• 1 (14-oz.) can low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
• 1 cup fat-free milk 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

Preparation

1. 1. Bring first 3 ingredients and 1 1/3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; gradually whisk in grits. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until thickened. Stir Parmesan.

Au Lait

In continuing with my list of restaurants I want to try.....the hubby and I went to a sweet little spot called Eclair Bistro.
Here is how I added it to the list:
 Every morning I watch Good Morning Texas. This has become one of my favorite shows to watch in the morning. They highlight a lot of local DFW spots and offer a lot of free giveaways. April 15th was Julia Childs' birthday and Eclair Bistro's chef, Aaron, was there to discuss and introduce beef bourguignon and a seared duck breast.  Once he said French, NOLA, and Cedar Hill I knew I had to go.

Eclair Bistro is tucked away in Cedar Hill and it is definitely worth the stop. They pride themselves on classic French cuisine with a touch of New Orleans Cajun. This place did not disappoint. It is very quaint with maybe 12-15 tables. We did not make reservations but they were very inviting and had a cute little two seat table for us to sit at.

Eclair Bistro

One of the owners, David, greeted us as soon as we sat down. He was very polite and gave us a little history of the restaurant.
I ordered the crab cakes for an appetizer and the crab and corn bisque as my main. Mr. Lovely had the beef tenderloin medallions.
The crab appetizer was amazing. It consisted of three small crab cakes that were very fresh. You could tell that they were not reheated, but freshly prepared and cooked to order. There were bits of fresh crab accompanied with celery, scallions and a delicious panko breading. A yummy remoulade sauce was great for dipping.

Mr. Lovely had the amazing beef tenderloin. It was cooked perfectly and came with jambalaya, grilled asparagus, and a grilled vegetable medley of onions, bell peppers, and zucchini.

I did not get a picture of the crab and corn bisque, but it was very good and creamy.

After dinner we had to have a dessert! I ordered the bread pudding and Mr. Lovely had white chocolate cheesecake.

Bread Pudding with Meringue

This was the best bread pudding I have ever had in my life!!!! Even Mr. Lovely, who is a SUPER picky eater, loved it. There is an amazing sauce poured around the bread pudding that gives it a great boost of flavor. It's a type of alcohol (whiskey?) and you can definitely taste it on its own but in combination with the bread pudding and meringue it is heaven.

Mr. Lovely had the white chocolate cheesecake and he said it tasted better then the restaurant that is famous for their cheesecake (no names). I tasted it and I have to agree. It was pretty damn good.

Will I return to this restaurant again?? DEFINITELY!! The next time I will go for the cafe au lait, which disappointedly serves 4 and comes in a french press to table. I wanted it sooo bad but I already have enough energy, I don't need to down 4 cups of coffee. I'll take some coffee drinkers next time. 

Please support this amazing restaurant. It is definitely a date night type of place so bring your credit card and enjoy the most amazing food and restaurant in Cedar Hill.

Out and About

My buddy P-Diddy and I have a bucket list......which mainly consists of restaurants. Everytime we find a new place to eat we say "add it to the list!" We tried to tackle a few over the summer but lately we have been adding a lot more to the list. Summer is almost over so we will now have to use weekends and school holidays to enjoy.

Today we went to the wonderful Bishop Arts District in Oakcliff. I love this little area of town. It's like a diamond in the rough. I have visited before and ate at Hunky's-the best old-fashioned burger spot ever! I was watching the food network/cooking channel the other day (because I am obsessed with that channel) and I came across a show called Chuck's Eat the Street. Chuck is an awesome chef from Montreal. He has his own restaurants and has appeared on Iron Chef beating THE Bobby Flay.

Chuck Hughes

The episode was called Big D, Little Street and if you go to the website you can check it out. The restaurants featured were Lockhart Smokehouse, Lucia, and Dude, Sweet Chocolate.

We tried Lockhart Smokehouse first.
This place is pretty awesome. The meat is all smoked and prepared in house. They will let you try the meat before you purchase so of course we sampled. We tried the shoulder clod first. This is the shoulder part of the cow and it is really tender and juicy. It is similar to brisket but more red in color and not as fatty. They have an amazing rub on the clod and you don't really have to use any sauce if you don't want to. They do have sauce condiments available that is made in house. They pride themselves on not using sauce because the flavors are so amazing.
You can order however much you want and they weigh it out. I ordered 4 slices of clod and the jalapeno sausage. I could never be a vegan! P had half a smoked chicken and 3 slices of clod. She's pregnant.....I'm greedy. As for sides they have an abundance. I had the Habanero Mac and Cheese which was divine. It tasted like there was a hint of garlic and lots of spice. This was one of the best sides I have ever had. P had the regular mac and cheese.....she wasn't down for the spicy, but she said it was really good. They are also famous for their deviled eggs and Chuck features the recipe on the cooking channel website. We didn't get any but next time you bet your a$% we will! 

While there we saw a celebrity! One of the daughters from Big Rich Texas was there. I love reality tv but I did not really watch this show. P used to watch it so she pointed the girl out.....and stalked her while she ate said hello as we walked out.

There were condiments of spicy and regular pickles and marinated red onions. This food was so amazing. I ordered a 1/2 rack of ribs for Mr. Lovely and he wasn't impressed. I tasted them and they didn't seem to be as seasoned as the clod but they weren't bad. I would definitely order the same thing I had again.

After lunch/dinner, we needed a good dessert. We walked to Dude, Sweet Chocolate which was about 2 blocks away. This is a cute little chocolate shop that prides itself on selling high quality (72%) dark chocolate.

We got to sample all of the different types of chocolate they have. Some was pretty bitter but a vast majority of it is all mixed or infused together with other ingredients. The show featured chocolate salami which is a mixture of dates, figs, chocolate, marzipan, and extracts all rolled into a tube and sliced like salami. It was pretty good. But, I went crazy when I saw this:

You know how much I love Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Yes, this was THE Preservation Hall that the owner wanted to capture. The owner, Katherine Clapner, was there when we went in. She lived and worked in New Orleans and is VERY familiar with Preservation Hall, hence why she named it that. She wasn't in that much of a talking mood though, which sucked 'cause I am a talker and I had a lot of questions. SUCKS!

I ended up purchasing the Especial Soft Butter Toffee. It's made with toasted cashew and blackberry. It is one of the sweetest chocolates in the store and I love it.

Lucia is right next to Dude, Sweet Chocolate but there is a month long waiting list to eat there. It is Italian food but PRICEY! This is definitely an anniversary, birthday, last day on earth type of restaurant. Don't worry, we will eat at this restaurant...and I will post a review.

There are a ton of other restaurants in Bishop Arts District that I have yet to eat at. They are on my list and once I visit them I will definitely post.

Make Me Over

Makeup can transform a face. With highlighting and contouring....you can go from trash to class. LOL!
There are a few beauty tools that I keep in my stash. I try to at least wear mascara, blush, eyebrow powder/pencil, and gloss everyday. Some days I don't wear a thing 'cause I'm lazy like that. Here is what keeps me classy.

Mascara

L'Oreal Voluminous

I LOVE this mascara. A friend of mine told me about it and I have worn it ever since. I have tried Clinique, Estee Lauder, etc. and this by far is my favorite. I really want to try this one:

Dior Show

But I heard that it doesn't even compare to L'Oreal.

Here is one of my favorite bloggers review on mascara: The Teacher Diva.

Blush

When it comes to blush I love Clinique. They have really good colors for my skin tone. I love their True Bronze Sunkissed. It's not too brown, with just the right hint of pink. There are tiny sparkles but not enough to make you look like you just played with your 5 year olds sparkle set.

Clinique True Bronze in Sunkissed

Eyeshadow

I am hands down obsessed with Urban Decay's Naked Eyeshadow palette. It has amazing colors and can be used for day or night. I know a lot of people who use this and it is the only one they swear by. My amazing 1st grade team purchased it for me for my birthday and I LOVE it. It comes with a little wand and pot which is an eyeshadow primer that you put on before you apply the actual eyeshadow. I only use a tiny amount on both eye since I have oily skin.

Urban Decay Naked

 Lip Gloss

It took me forever to find the right lip gloss. I tried different ones from low end to high. I used Nars Turkish Delight for a long time but then I decided it was time for a change. I found myself applying it way too much. It didn't stay on very long. I tried Clinique's chubby stick but they have more color and the nude look just isn't their forte. They have a lot of pinks and reds but not enough browns and nudes ....but that's just my opinion. I went to Sephora and bought their brand lip gloss and I am in love. It goes on nicely and doesn't have that sticky feeling. My favorite is Shiny Natural Look (14).

Sephora Ultra Shine Lip Gloss

Foundation

I don't use foundation or powder. When I am going out on the town I will use Clinique's Stay-Matte Foundation in Sand. I hate the shiny look and my face can get oily. It's oil free which is exactly what I need. It has great coverage and there really is no need for a powder finish.

Clinique Stay-Matte Foundation

Cleanser

For cleansing all of this crap off I use the Clinique Acne Skin Care line. I use the cleansing bar soap instead of the cleansing foam (in the picture). I don't have a lot of acne but I feel like it really helps my face and keeps it tight. Get it right get it tight!

Clinique Acne Skin Care

Those are pretty much my basics.