Rachel's Reality Show Moment - Garage Sale Millionaire!

Sooooooo one of the craziest things I have ever done in my life was in early 2012 when I was signed on as a character in a reality show called, "Garage Sale Millionaire" for CMT (Country Music Television). They needed a WOMAN that 1) knew about antiques 2) looked good on camera and felt comfortable on screen 3) could take off and go around the country filming a crazy reality show ASAP! 

At first I thought it was a fluke but when they said it was Bray Entertainment, I quickly googled them while on the phone and saw they produced Pawn Stars...so I quickly changed from skepticism to "Ok...I am listening...". 

Believe it or not, women who knew about antiques and weren't Jurassic were hard to find! After sending an audition tape, I was officially under contract for the first season of Garage Sale Millionaire within a few weeks of them calling me! I couldn't talk about it because of the confidentially agreement but the studio now gave me the go ahead to write about it!  Man it was such a fun time and to not be able to talk about it was REALLY hard.

It was a reality show with the premise that we are all garage sale experts that can go into a house and find all the hidden gems among the typical garage sale "junk". 

After the cast was set, we flew to Texas where we filmed the 6 day pilot. I was the only girl in an ensemble cast of like 10 guys. It was one of the craziest times of my life and I loved every minute! It rained everyday but we made it work.

 We stayed at a La Quinta in a pretty sketch part of town. I asked the front desk lady if there was a gym and she said, "Oh honey no we don't have those fancy jims but if you want to run around that there parking lot, I can have Vern the skerity gard watch ya!".

 We also drank more Coors Light than I have ever had in my life. Not complaining!

 

The show ultimately didn't get picked up and we waited over 4 months for the answer from the studio! It was insane waiting for that answer. If it was a no, everything went back to normal. If it was a yes, I was going to start shooting right away! I was fully prepared for either answer and while I was bummed it wasn't picked up, I get to take that experience with me and I will never forget it!! 

In between takes on the set!

 Candid of me texting! Surprise...

I never know where my life will take me but I am always happy to embrace what comes next and I am grateful look fondly on the adventures I have had. :o) 

XO, 

Rache;

Pumpkin Sage Sauce!

 

Hope your week was FAB!! Mine was super busy and also super fun! Friday night I got to see Mama Mia at the DCPA and it was awesome! The week before I saw Evita! I love theater and I am grateful that we have such an amazing Performing Arts Center right downtown.

Sunday I was happy to work Superbowl...although as the day progressed, my customers were getting a little grumpy! I survived though. :o)
 
So my post of the pumpkin sage sauce got a lot of traction and I also promised to post the recipe! It's one of my FAVORITE recipes and also one of the easiest ones! If it takes three hours to make or had more than 10 ingredients, I am OUT. I would rather just go out to eat if it's that complicated. So...you can gather that when I cook, it needs to be SIMPLE! Well this recipe I adapted from The Detoxinista who has amazing recipes! They are all vegan, gluten free, dairy free, everything FREE but they are interesting and you can add gluten or dairy or whatever. She has good ideas! Here is my version of the recipe! I always double it but this is for two people and if you do two LARGE one cup servings, it's around 100 calories a cup! Put it on pasta or my favorite, spaghetti squash!

You can do sage or any other savory herb. The other night I made it with an Italian blend and it was super delicious. Serve alone for a vegetarian dinner or lunch or if doing meat, a sausage type goes GREAT with it - I used turkey meatballs I already made that were in the freezer! We were eating in 15 minutes!!

Creamy Pumpkin & Sage Pasta
Makes about 2 cups of sauce

Ingredients:
oil spray
1/2 a yellow onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 sprigs fresh sage leaves
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the powder kind you put on pizza and pasta)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Pasta, or veggies, of choice
Directions:
If baking a spaghetti squash, refer to my blog here about how to make it!

For the sauce, I spray the skillet with spray oil and over medium heat, and saute the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes (add water if you need to), until tender. Transfer the onions and garlic to a blender or food processor, and add in the pumpkin puree, almond milk, sage leaves, cheese and salt.

 It's creamy, NO GUILT, and ladies that cook for families - children and guys love it. LOL!

 Let me know what you think!

XO,
Rachel