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Monday, January 9, 2012

A Little Follow Up

Today I wanted to take a little time to do a follow up to my Friday Post!  I talked  emailed my idea to a few other bloggers last Friday about cooking my way through through my food pin board.  And the idea just kept popping up in the back of my mind all weekend!  My mind would go back and forth from Julie and Julia to the millions (ok not millions) of recipes that are on my pin board.  Hey it is kind of like a virtual cook book! So this little thought of mine turned into a full fledged idea.  And as I tried not one but three new recipes this week from my pin board I thought to myself hey I can do this!

However this little task of mine is going to take a bit of time!  I mean there are 1100 pins on there (and yes I deleted some because they were duplicates or I already made them)! But will it be fun? Heck yes, whats not to love about trying new healthy recipes (and er maybe some not so healthy ones, a girl has to have cupcake every now and then)!

So here is my game plan (or cooking plan?)!
Each Friday I am going to do a Friday Five and feature 5 recipes I would like to try out that upcoming week.  If I only have time to make one new recipe that is fine, I won't fret.  Because this is meant to be a fun project, and a way for me to try new recipes!  I have already created a new pin board where the recipes will be pinned after I try them.  But here is the kicker, not every recipe will make it onto said board.  As I go about cooking my way through my pin board I am only going to keep those recipes I absolutely loved, you know the ones I can see myself making over and over again.  The others will be discarded.  The hope is to eliminate the black hole of recipes, and to end up with a brand new spankin food board with recipes that I literally drooled over!

So lets kick of this little challenge of mine with the three recipes I have tried so far!
They are... 
The Detox Salad from Oh She Glows.
 I switched in cranberries and cherries for the currents and raisins!
This might be a go to salad for my lunch box!
Trader Joe's Cilantro Dressing adds a great flavor punch to the salad 
(seriously want to attempt making my own)!

Saturday morning while still in my PJ's I whipped up this,


Eat Live Runs Almond Apple Sauce bread.  Pretty delicious if you ask me. As I was mixing the batter however I came to the realization that I had no slivered almonds!  Ooops!  I left them out, but sprinkled a praline pecan granola on top of the bread!
and last but not least I made the Clean Eating Spanakopita Casserole! However mine did not look out as pretty as this!

Oh and lets just say that  phyllo dough and I are not the best of friends!  But the dish turned out tasty (there are a few tweaks I would like to make to it!

So there you have it folks my little challenge is underway (this could be one heck of an adventure).  And while I will try and stay true to the recipe you all know I like to add my little quirks as I go!
To check out my pin board click here!
Follow Me on Pinterest

And PS I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who follows my blog and for your daily comments, you guys really do make my day!  

Saturday, January 7, 2012

11 Things

The Lovely Mandy of Orange Autumn  tagged me the other day in her post 11 things about me!  These posts are so much fun to do, and I am so happy she picked me to be apart of the 11 things about me!  

So what are the rules...
1-Each Person must post 11 things about them on their blog. 
2-Answer the questions the tagger set up for you and come up with 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer!
3-Choose the 11 people you are going to tag, and tag them on this post 
4-And finally make sure you let them know you tagged them!
Have fun!

Remember:
No tag backs!

Here are 11 things about me!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Friday 5-Recipe Edition

Yesterday I was looking at the million recipes I have pinned on my pinterest board.  And I came to this realization, there are 1,000+  recipes pinned their and I have maybe tried 10 (and that could be an exaggeration)!  My pinterset board is becoming my new black hole of recipes, and I am not sure I am ok with this!

So for my Friday 5 I though I would share 5 recipes I would like to attempt to make in the next week!  

1- I don't know if any of you have tried Trader Joe's Cookie Butter yet, but if you haven't then you need to!  You need to run to your nearest Trader Joe's and pick this stuff up.  Cookie Butter is like a sweet peanut butter like spread that literally taste like a gingerbread cookie!  No Joke!  And then when you are completely addicted to the stuff like I am you can make your own using this recipe!!

2- I recently made Pea's and Thank You's Banana Bread (seriously love this cookbook, I highly recommend it), and it was nothing short of amazing.  I mean you get to put almond butter (or peanut butter in my case, no almond butter in the pantry) into the bread!!  Ever since I made this glorious loaf of banana bread Tuesday I have had the desire to bake!  Then I came across this recipe from Eat Live Run 

Almond Apple Sauce Bread!  Looks Delicious!

3- I am dying to make this delicious salad!  Broccoli and Cauliflower two of my favorite recipes.  I am not sure why I have not made this Detox Salad from Oh She Glows sooner!

I had originally bookmarked the recipe when Angela first blogged about it (Pinterest wasn't around).  This would be a great salad to take to work for lunch, I am a all about brown bagging my lunch, or in my case packing my Vera!

4- I need the perfect morning to whip these puppies up!

Whats not to love about a lazy Saturday with Banana Pancakes!  I have been drooling over this recipe from How Sweet It Is for far to long now!  Maybe this stack of pancakes will fill the craving I have been having for Golden Nugget Banana Pancakes!
And number 5 (although this list could go on and on and on)!
Spanikopita Casserole From Clean Eating Magazine

Because I could seriously eat the whole box of Trader Joe's Spanikopita, yes it is that good!
Maybe a New Years goal of mine should have been to cook my way through my pinterest board one recipe at the time. It could be like Julie and Julia!  Although I am not sure there would ever be an end to that little goal since I pin new recipes almost daily!
Is there a recipe you have pinned that you are dying to make?  Share it with me!
Happy Friday Everyone!





Thursday, January 5, 2012

It's OK Thrursday

Oh I am loving that today is Thursday.  These 4 day weeks are simply just amazing!  Today I thought I would do something a bit different.  I have been seeing a blog link up called It's Ok Thursday on some of my favorite blogs now for awhile!  I figured I would give it ago today and link up with Amber of Brunch with Amber and Neely of A Complete Waste Of Makeup for my first It's Ok Thursday!

So here it goes!
It's Ok that...
...I have been ready for the weekend since Tuesday, and that I am dreading next week since it is a 5 day work week!  I don't think I am alone on this one!

 ...I am a bit sad the Holidays are over.  The house looks so empty once all the Christmas decorations are taken down!

...I look forward to an empty peanut butter jar, because oats in a pb jar can simply brighten a morning at 5 AM

 ...I wish I could stay home and bake these yummy treats instead of sitting at a desk.




....I treated myself to these boots!  Hey I had coupons!

and last
...tomorrow is Friday and I have absolutely no plans for the weekend!  Hello relaxation!!!
Now if only I could be relaxing here!
Head on over and check out the link up for It's Ok Thursday!
Happy Thursday Everyone!



Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Bit of Luck

Resolutions, hope and looking back on the previous year are yearly traditions that go hand in hand with the start of a New Year.  But what about a bit of luck?  There are many traditional dishes made at the start of a New Year,  dishes that are eaten to promote luck and good fortune for the year ahead.  
Purple Cabbage (my moms is amazing with caraway seed apples and a touch of brown sugar), Black Eyed Peas, and Ham are just a few of my New Years day must haves!

This year I did a new spin on our traditional Black Eyed Peas using a very surprisingly healthy Paula Dean Recipe (2 Tablespoons of butter, and no bacon, so not like Ms Dean).
 I made a tradition Hoppin' John.  A traditional southern dish consisting of bacon, rice black eyed peas and onions.  Usually Seasoned with Salt.  Traditionally this dish was served on New Years Day and was thought to bring about a prosperous year full of luck.  So shall we dive into this recipe?
I think we shall!

Paula's recipe was super easy with subtle flavor.  But don't skip out on the parsley (that adds a great flavor punch)!  Click here to get the complete recipe.  The only thing I did differently was sub in celery for the red pepper and cut the butter down by a 1/2 tablespoon!
The end result was a huge crowd pleaser, I even got Mark to eat black eyed peas  (and he is not a bean eater)!  I can for sure see myself making this dish again.  This simple Hoppin' John would make an excellent side dish to grilled meat or possibly even tofu!  Light, flavorful and easy just the kind of recipe I like!  Lets hope this dish brings my family a prosperous year full of luck!
Do you eat something special on New Years Day?  Any other foods that are thought to bring you luck in the New Year?  I would love to hear about them!

And last but not least, just a few pictures from our New Years Celebration!
The Whole Gang!
  Beautiful Ladies!                                      
 Not ready...
Still not ready...
There we go!  Thats a good one!
Happy Wednesday Everyone!



Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Fresh Start - Hello 2012

I hope that everyone had a wonderful time ringing in 2012!  I know that we did, but I have to say I am sad the weekend went by so fast.  I have to apologize I was to lazy to upload the pictures we took on NYE, but don't worry I will share them with you soon!

The start of a New Year always makes me think about things I could improve upon in my life.  Call them New Years resolutions or goals or whatever you like! 
But here are my 5 big resolutions, or things I want to work on in 2012:
1- I want to run a 5 and 10k.   Little fact about me, even though I love running I have never actually ran a race(the one 5k I was supposed to run got rained out), so in 2012 I want to change that!  I just need to find the races and settle on the dates! I am looking into this one
and this one.

2- I want to not sweat the small stuff in 2012.  
It is so easy for me to sit and worry about every little thing.  This in turn causes me to stress out way to much over things that might never happen.  I want to enjoy everything life has to offer in 2012 and not constantly worry about the little things that may go wrong from time to time!
3- I want to continue the path to healthy living.  A healthy lifestyle takes work.  In 2012 I want to make better food choices, explore more healthy recipes and learn more about nutrition (maybe I will even start school)!
4- I want to work more on loving myself, and the person that I am.  I will admit that I beat myself up a lot!  This year I want to focus less on the negative and more on the positive.  I want to tell myself I can do whatever I put my mind to!
5- Going along with loving myself I also want to love others, and give thanks for the love and support I have in my life.  I want to grow deeper in relationships.  Relationships with my family, friends and God.  I have not talked about religion much on the blog, but religion is something that I have very strong feelings about (also an area of my life I know I need to grow in).  
There are a few other smaller goals I have for the year like relaxing more (so bad at that) staying organized, and reading more but those 5 are the big ones!  

So what about all of you,
Do you make New Years Resolutions or goals for your year?  What do you want to accomplish in 2012?
And how was everyone else's New Years?

Friday, December 30, 2011

Happy New Years Eve

It is time to ring in 2012!
Happy New Years Eve everyone!  See you all in... 
I hope your night is filled with bubbly, sparkles, good friends, family, love and laughter!  Lets start of 2012 right!