Tag Archive | food

Friday Favorites – March 27, 2015

Another week of productive web cruising under my belt. Here’s some stuff I loved!

Favorite Crafty Find:

Tissue paper is one of my favorite low cost go-to material for decorating for parties. I had giant paper poms at my wedding, made some pretty great tassel garlands for my sister’s baby shower, and adorned branches with delicate blossoms made from tissue paper for a friend’s bridal shower. I am definitely going to tackle these cuties for the next center piece I need. The instructions even say that old wrinkled paper is the best for this project. Recycling to boot!

Favorite Food Find:

This recipe has all the makings of being a favorite in my house. We love to make soft pretzels when we have guests, and our favorite veggie of all time is the almighty BEET. We even grow them in our garden over the summer. And pistachio pesto? Yes, please. The colors of this snack are so beautiful! check out the recipe here at Club Narwhal. (How about that site name, amazing.)

Favorite Fitness Find:

Fitness is a huge industry right now and I personally love it. I love having inspiration at every corner, and being able to learn so much online. However, it is really easy to fall into the comparison trap where you are constantly looking at amazing photos and cutting yourself down for not being as perfect as you think everyone else looks. This post is a great reminder that we are seeing the best of folks online, and that they really are normal too. I found this a refreshing and brave post to make.

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

I am new to the essential oil lifestyle, but have been really enjoying learning and experimenting with different oils. I like the earthy oils the best; cedar, amber, Frankincense. This site has lots of good information on leading a natural lifestyle, and I found this info on Frankincense especially interesting! If anyone has info on essential oils to share, send it my way! I love learning about this!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, no matter what you get into! Thanks for swinging by!

Cheers!

Happy St Patrick’s Day! {Remembering Ireland}

Mar18

By this point in the day, you might not be able to see straight if you’ve been celebrating St Paddy’s day since the wee morning hours, but I still wanted to send my well wishes and share some of my memories with you from my trip to Ireland a few months ago.

My husband and I spent a few days in Ireland (Dublin, Galway, Doolin) this past September. Here are just a few of my favorite photos from our journey with some highlights. If Ireland is on your bucket list, do not wait! It is such a beautiful country with some of the best people you’ll ever meet. Slainte!

{Clockwise from top left: The Claddagh ring in Galway, A city street in Dublin, Countryside dock in County Clare, Me sipping my first beer in Dublin}

{Clockwise from top left: Countryside lunch in Dooli (fresh delicious seafood chowder, bangers and mash..oh and BEER), the most awesome Cliffs of Moher}

{Clockwise from top left: My husband and I take a picture on our anniversary trip each year while holding last year’s photo. I love this tradition!, Pretty countryside, Me at the Cliffs of Moher, Colorful seaside in County Clare}

{Clockwise from top left: We toured the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Guinness sips at the Storehouse, A cute sign in a pub, My husband’s favorite (Guinness) and my favorite (Galway Hooker) from our tour!}

Thanks for stopping by for my quick tour of Ireland. Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Friday Favorites – March 6, 2015

Mar6

Well ya’ll, we made it to March. That means SPRING is inevitably just around the corner! However, we got slammed with a foot of snow yesterday, just to remind us that we can have hope, but we ain’t outta the woods yet. Pretty? Yes. Timely? Hardly. (Sorry anyone from the northeast US, I know I should just hush up now.)

Although, cold and snowy weather means plenty of time to find these pretties online to share with you guys. Here are some of my favorite and useful stops online this week:

Favorite Crafty Find:

These bright hydrangea blooms from A Piece of Rainbow caught my eye and made me smile. They are beautiful, but if you read the directions, I bet the process of making them would make quite a few kiddos happy as well. Bring on spring!

Favorite Food Find:

A little different path on the food find this week, but had to share these images from Emily Blincoe with you guys. She is a photographer that has a wide portfolio, but her neat food layouts sucked me and made me sigh. Just perfect. Wait til you see the French fries!

Favorite Fitness Find:

You guys know I swear by Beachbody programs. They are my go to workouts and I literally have a LIBRARY of DVDs collected in my “gym” (let’s be real, it’s a basement.) Well this week, Beachbody changed the game and it is nothing short of EPIC.

Beachbody On Demand is now available for a weekly fee of $2.99. THREE DOLLARS A WEEK. I spent more than that on a daily coffee. My mind is blown. Ok, so what does that even mean? Your club membership of $2.99 a week gives you streaming access to programs like P90X, P90X3, TurboFire, Brazil Butt Lift, INSANITY, and more. Did ya’ll see that? P90X?! Insanity?! These are the godfathers of Beachbody programs, selling at over $100 each for $2.99, AND you can access them ANYWHERE?? I’m dead.

And since this is just the beginning, the streaming access will also have taste tester workouts from Beachbody’s newest programs including 21 Day Fix Extreme, INSANITY Max 30, and PiYo. I’m telling you guys, if you ever thought about doing any of these programs, this is the time. If you don’t think your health is worth $2.99 a week, you better email me because we have some talking to do.

You can sign up for access here (click Join and make sure you pick Club membership) or if you have any questions just shoot me a message or ask below. If you can’t tell, I’m a little excited about this so I’m MORE than happy to chat with you about it!

Now excuse me while I stream every. workout. ever.

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

All this snow is giving me the heebie jeebies so I just had to get a spring break trip booked stat. Yes, 30 year old married people can take spring break trips, back up.

With the help of my friend Lindsay over at Travelfied, I nailed down Charleston, SC as the destination. We will be headed down in April and she gave me tons of tips on what to do, what’s nearby and what to eat. Check out Travelfied for lots of good travel tips from booking hotels to watching for deals!

This one is gonna be a road trip folks, so get ready for a fun recap when we get back! Here’s to not wearing a coat!

Wishing you a fantastic weekend full of things that make you smile!

Cheers!

Friday Favorites – February 20, 2015

Feb20

Another work week in the books! Hope you all had a good one, and managed to stay warm! I know Pennsylvania isn’t the only place in this situation, but um…it’s colder than Antarctica today. Wowzers, guys. Hang in there!

Here’s the goodies that caught my eye enough to hang on to them to share on Friday. Enjoy!

Favorite Crafty Find:

I kept this project open in my browser all week. I keep glancing at it and trying to figure out what I love the most about it. The amazing wrapping paper she used as a background? The soft but bright color palette? The milk glass birdies? THAT IT COST $12? Oh, let me quit while I’m ahead. Either way, swing by Remodelaholic and check out her DIY drawer shelves, they are totally worth Pinning and pretending you’ll make them someday….

Favorite Food Find:

As I mentioned last week, I took a quick trip to NYC this past weekend. I think you already know how it was. COLD. But we managed to have a good time anyway. Made some visits, saw some sights, sipped some suds and DEVOURED THESE BAGELS. I heard about Black Seed Bagels on an episode of Food Networks short lived “Best Ever.” (I know, how original, on the Food Network….) But seriously, Alex Guarnaschelli described these bagels in her typical “doesn’t leave the kitchen enough to realize she’s a nutcase” style and she had me drooling during the whole segment. We’re talking Montreal bagel and New York bagel had a crazy affair and this is the outcome. Boiled THEN baked in a wood fired oven, with the most divine ingredients for the best bagel sammie you ever put in your mouth. Ok, I’m done talking about it. If you are ever in NYC, make the trip and wait in line, you will not be sorry.

Favorite Fitness Find:

“You can’t be satisfied today with what worked yesterday.”

~ Autumn Calabrese

Now that my over indulgence of drinks and food in NYC is over, I’ve started the 21 Day Fix Extreme this week with my online fitness team. I love the original 21 Day Fix program because it teaches so much about nutrition, but I will be honest, some of the workouts were not as difficult as I would have liked. Back up to last night’s Pilates workout. I’m in love. Was I sweating in a pile on the floor? Nah. Did I work muscles I usually don’t? YES! This workout includes a resistance band and it might have changed my life (definitely my butt, but maybe my life too). I’m almost done my first week of this program and can definitely give you advice if you are thinking about trying it…just ask!

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

BREAKING NEWS (at least to me!): Submerge a cut avocado in water to keep from browning.

I can’t remember where I originally read this, but I saw online that if you want to keep your guacamole from browning, you should pour a bit of water on top to create a barrier to the air. This seemed brilliant to me. Yesterday, I had half an avocado on my sandwich and when I was done, I plopped that puppy in some water. I think the results speak for themselves. If I’m late to this train, just let me have my glory because I’M SO HAPPY. Now, the only problem is I can’t have avocado for two more days because I’m following the 21 Day Fix Countdown to Competition guide. Let’s see if this little fellow can last that long?

One last random tidbit, my Facebook page has finally caught up with the blog, so please join me over there at Create Your Joy on Facebook for daily goodies.

Have a safe and happy weekend! Be kind to those around you. ❤

Cheers!

Happy Mardi Gras, Ya’ll!

Feb17

I have mixed feelings about Mardi Gras this year. I love Mardi Gras, mostly because I have the biggest crush on New Orleans that a human can have on a city…but also because I just plain love to eat and what could be a better day to eat than FAT TUESDAY?!? Alas, I just started a round of the 21 Day Fix Extreme, so there will be no fatness had by me this year. The 21 Day Fix Extreme is focused on hard core nutrition for 21 days straight, no cheats, no jokes, no Mardi Gras. (If those egg whites I chowed for breakfast have anything to do with effort…I should already get an A.) So, in lieu of delicious beignets, king cake, macaroons and all the sugary sweet drinks you can imagine, I will take you on a trip down memory lane to my past visit to New Orleans and share some great recipes to bring Mardi Gras and New Orleans to your own kitchen!

New Orleans in September (when I visited) was hot and humid and everything about that sounds awesome right now (can you tell we got a few inches of snow this morning?). While it made for some sticky strolls while I was there, the city was alive and vibrant. From Jackson Square, to the swamps, to riding the street car to the garden district, everything was beautiful and comfortable. The city has an ease to it that makes you want to slow down and stick around.

And while you stick around, you should probably have a snack. Or two. Or as many as you can until you need to lie down. The food in New Orleans was so tasty and unique, and you can really find any sort of joint you are looking for. From upscale cajun, to a bar with arcade games, to waiting in the street for fresh oysters, we tasted as much as we could while saving room for a hurricane to wash it all down.

But naturally, no trip to New Orleans or night out on Frenchman Street can end without a stop (or multiple) to Café Du Monde. It is iconic and deservedly so. Some places get hyped and turn into something that you can’t even imagine why they ever got the glory in the first place, but Café Du Monde maintains its local flair while still being an obvious tourist stop. It is simple and fun and you owe yourself a stop if you’re in the city. I definitely enjoyed sitting, sipping and doing some people watching in the heart of the city.

So, now that I’m staring out a snowy window in Pennsylvania, how do I want to remember New Orleans? Beignets, of course! I love this recipe from the Food Network, it is simple and the results are delicious. Be warned though, it makes a TON of beignets, so unless you are prepared to eat them for days straight (no judgment passed, only jealousy), I recommend either cutting the recipe in half or making the whole thing and freezing half of the dough. I’ve had success freezing the dough, just thaw overnight and fry the next day.

French Quarter Beignets

Some other great recipes that remind me of NOLA:

Spicy BBQ Shrimp

This recipe from Return to Sunday Supper makes me want to grab the nearest baguette and get to mopping up that spicy sauce! Looks so delicious!

Cajun Boudin Balls

Who better to give us a recipe for boudin sausage balls than Emeril himself? I had these tasty treats at Cochon (which, ironically, is down the street from Emeril’s joint…) and I still have dreams about them. Hot and crispy, topped with a spicy mustard; excuse me while I find a napkin.

Chicken and Andouille Sausage

For a little Cajun flair without over indulging, try this recipe from Skinnytaste. Tender chicken and spicy sausage bring Cajun flavors without ALL of the guilt. Still super yummy!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Mardi Gras! Cheers!

Friday Favorites – February 13, 2015

Feb13

Oh, is it Friday already? Said no one, EVER. Finally, the best day of the week is here! My husband and I are headed to New York City for a little getaway this weekend & although the weather is going to be pretty much arctic, I’m still looking forward to going. We love the city and always eat too much, walk too much and get into as much as we can when we are there.

To all the lovers (& even the haters) out there…have a wonderful and happy Valentine’s day. Remember to celebrate your partner, your family, your friends and yourself every day. You can never have too much love ❤

Favorite Crafty Find:

Help me. Please. I keep finding new hobbies that I want (no, NEED) to be amazing at. There’s not enough time in the day or muscles in my fingers to keep up with my brain. But be serious, hand embroidery is MAGIC. I stumbled upon the Needle n Thread website this week and I’ve been back each.and.every.day. For real, I’m obsessed. This site is a treasure trove of information and tutorials. It is really well done and I can’t wait to devour it all. If I weren’t feverishly knitting a scarf out of blanket yarn (you heard it, don’t judge) right now, you better believe I’d be tackling some way over my head embroidery project RIGHT NOW. Which, based on this HISTORICAL piece here….I’ve got a lot of room to improve 😉

*Circa way too long ago*

Favorite Food Find:

Hummus will either make you fast friends or make the person sitting next to you on the train disgusted for the duration of your snack (not that I have any experience with that). Either way, it is delicious. I am in love with the Tribe brand of hummus and lo, they have just released another scratch batch with IT flavor of the moment…SRIRACHA! Spicy hummus on a cool crisp green pepper…just give me a minute. But really, all of the Tribe flavors are really great (Lemon Rosemary Focaccia, get it together). Their website has a store locator, find some near you!

Favorite Fitness Find:

“You’re not technically “healthy” unless you are also “happy.” Keep that in mind when considering dessert!”

~ Chef Robert Irvine

This is an interesting post regarding “cheat meals” and the impact of eating a little crazy sometimes on the body and the brain. I was recently reading a post of a super fit mama who mentioned she ‘went off track’ and indulged on some whole wheat crackers and blue cheese and her abs paid the price the next day. (Her abs are amazing.) As someone who loves food as much as they love fitness, my ‘off track’ days involve oh, just a TAD more than cheese and crackers, but it is so important to remember that pleasing your mind, your palette, your WHOLE self is just as important as being fit and healthy.

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

You may have seen this video already, as it appeared on almost every social media outlet I’m on during the week, but it is worth sharing just in case you didn’t see it. I eat hard boiled eggs every stinking (literally) week. They are a quick and easy way to snack protein, so I make a bunch at once. This hack for peeling eggs looked way too good to be true, but I tried it anyway. It worked and I was giddy. It’s the simple things, people. (Also, add just a smidge of baking soda to your boiling water and it takes this to another level. Look out your eggs don’t hop out of the shells on their own. Creepy.)

Have a safe and happy weekend! Take care of your people and your pets! ❤

Cheers!

Pink Party! Colorful Treats and Décor for Valentine’s Day

Feb10

About two years ago this time, I was celebrating one of my dear friends at her bridal shower. Pink was one of the colors in her wedding, so needless to say we ran with the theme for the shower. Lots of the treats and décor that we used to celebrate her upcoming wedding are just PERFECT for celebrating LOVE this Valentine’s Day. Today I’m sharing the recipes and tips for how we pulled off the pink party. Enjoy & share the love ❤

We had lunch snacks catered by the location where we had the shower, but had homemade bite sized desserts for the guests to snack on during the afternoon. For the treats I made, I used a Wilton Gel Food Color that provided an awesome pink punch. I love the gel colors; they add a deep, rich color that you can’t get from the liquid and not to mention they come in just about ANY color you could want. You can find them locally at your craft store or even at Walmart now!

For this pink themed event, or any event when you have a color as your theme, I did an easy cheat and went with recipes that were written for ‘red velvet’ spins. You can swap red for any color, in this case I used pink, but it is a great way to find recipes that are focused on showcasing COLOR.

I found the cute bird and heart cupcake picks at Michael’s around Valentine’s Day and did a quick DIY to turn them into food identifiers. I think it is always nice to have your food labeled at parties; it makes your guests more comfortable when selecting food and makes it easier for them to ask for your recipes…because they will be asking for these! If you have a cutting machine (like a Cricut, etc) you could easily make these picks yourself, but I just used the premade one and glued on my handwritten label. So simple & cute!

It can be risky to try new baking recipes as they are so precise and can be hit or miss. I highly recommend perusing Brown Eyed Baker, as all the recipes I’ve tried from her are spot on! Here is the recipe for her Red Velvet Whoopie pies that I used to make my mini pink whoopie pies above.

Other recipes I used include:

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies from Baking Bites

Samoa Bars also from Baking Bites

Cake Batter Fudge (The easiest and best version for this…4 ingredients + microwave = heaven)

Sunburst Lemon Bars from Pillsbury (my go to dessert since I was old enough to use an oven!)

I made some festive tissue paper flowers to set around the room by following a modified version of the classic Martha Stewart Pom Guide. I used about 4 sheets of tissue paper in a 4X4 square for each flower. You can do a variety of sizes and colors, whatever works for your party! Once the paper is folded and you are ready to fluff the pom, just pull all of the ‘petals’ to one side rather than fluffing half to one side and half to the other. This will give you a flat back for your flower that you can glue to any surface (makes a great addition to gifts and packages too!) We decorated the rest of the room with personal touches such as engagement photos.

I love throwing a party with a simple theme that is easy to execute but brings an extra level of detail. Using a core color is a great way to do this! Lots of times you can load up on colored items for great deals after holidays. I snagged a lot of the materials I used for this part post Valentine’s day, but Christmas, St Patrick’s Day, Halloween are all great opportunities.… be on the lookout for any holiday that has colors you are using!

If you’re making a sweet treat for your honey (or YOU!) this weekend, try out one of these festive recipes! Cheers!

Friday Favorites – February 6, 2015

Feb6

I love a good online roundup. Lots of things I’m interested in all wrapped up in one single click? Yes, please…count me in. Now that I’m posting here, I figured what better way to tie up all that “lifestyle research” (that sounds way better than mindless surfing) I’ve been doing all week than to post my own list. So, ***drum roll please*** I welcome you to the inaugural Friday Favorite list, where each week I’ll be sharing my favorite finds from all the places I follow, or topical information in my favorite areas: Crafts, Food, Fitness/Wellness and Lifestyle. Enjoy and TGIF!

Favorite Crafty Find:

I just love this post on sprucing up your stuff with spray paint. Admittedly, I have work to do on my spray paint skills, but some of these ideas are so clever for making your “affordable” things look fancy.

Favorite Food Find:

Was anyone else’s social media exploding with World Nutella day posts this week? Everything looked so delicious, it was almost NSFW. As usual though, I was looking to enjoy without also consuming an entire stick of butter or no less than 3 cups of sugar. So I turned to Skinnytaste, of course! (Most healthy eating folks are familiar with this site already, but if you aren’t…go. Now.) Loved her simple and just the right amount of treat Nutella Cookies.

Favorite Fitness Find:

Have you heard of the 21 Day Fix from Beachbody? It is so ridiculous. And now there is another one, 21 Day Fix extreme. The first one was SO ridiculous because, now stay with me, it combined daily workouts with spot on nutrition and DELIVERED RESULTS. It seemed like an embarrassingly simple concept but dang if it didn’t work. I was already eating clean, but it taught me so much about portions and the balance of nutrients that I needed throughout the day. I lost 4 lbs and my abs were the best I’d ever seen them. I loved my results so much so that I ordered the latest edition, 21 Day Fix Extreme on the day it was released and will be starting it on 2/16. I will definitely be doing a review and posting my results when done. If you want to join me, send me a message, we can keep in touch for 21 days and do it together!

~SUMMER BODIES ARE MADE IN THE WINTER~

Favorite Lifestyle Find:

My husband and I generally take a trip around his birthday, April 1. It gives us something to look forward to so we don’t go crazy during winter in Pennsylvania. This year we were thinking about going to Texas and then I saw this roundup of all things Texas. Ok, I’m sold. We will probably hit up Austin as our home base. Anyone have their own personal Austin favorites to share? (PS, sorry for TWO Buzzfeed lists, it was just that kind of week!)

Happy weekend everyone, thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!