August 25, 2014

10 Ways to Enhance Annie’s Mac & Cheese

So, here’s the thing. My son, Cooper doesn’t like Mac & Cheese. ISN’T THAT CRAZY??! There’s something about pasta he doesn’t like (are we even related?!!) and he’s kinda finicky about melted cheese (only on pizza and sometimes quesadillas). I’m hoping/praying it’s just a phase. We shall see. BUT!! Casey, on the other hand loves pasta in ANY form. Whenever he’s is working late and Cooper has already eaten dinner and gone to bed, I usually whip up a box of Annie’s Mac & Cheese for us adults. It’s very rare that I make a box on its own because I love the challenge of coming up with new additions. I think Casey definitely appreciates the effort!

Every Monday Annie’s shares a new creative Mix-In idea on their twitter, Instagram & Facebook pages. Today I teamed up with Annie’s to show you some of MY favorite Mix-Ins (I created 10 recipes total!) on this fine MONDAY. Let’s get into it!

Inspiration

August 24, 2014

And I Quote:

my everyday life, Photography

August 23, 2014

My Everyday Life: Week 34

Here’s what this past week looked like.

A cupcake to celebrate last day of Summer school!

August 22, 2014

I love lists, Friday!

Texting in movies. I’m intrigued by this concept.
Beauty names products make no sense. I didn’t even think about this!
Let’s trip out for a second.
Ohhhh the life of a foodie.
I’m in it for the cheese and sausage…
I now want to make ketchup & steak sauce.
It’s always fun to see other people’s favorite typefaces.
Casey needs to make me Opraccino.
Do you think Cooper would like these? I really want him to!!
Be careful what you like on Facebook.
Oh, fruit…sigh…
My favorite dress this summer is HUGELY DISCOUNTED!!! It’s so comfy/flattering.
I love this dude on Vine. I’m glad they made a little round up of his puns.
Speaking of puns…check out this Pool PAWTY.
I’m interested in how they’re gonna end True Blood. IT’S TIME (but I still watch!)
A little insight on the Mad Men ending. I’m chomping at the bit!
Yessss…. except I’m NOT down with the word panties. *cringe*
I just bought this book about Willpower and I wonder how long it will take me to start it…
Oh My God.
She definitely HAS A POINT. Amen.

I share a tale of how I lied to an anesthesiologist about my weight on the latest Joy the Baker Podcast.

Check out episode #127 The Wisdom of Our Wisdom Teeth

Thanks for entering my GIVEAWAY! I loved reading your responses. A lot of you loved grilled meats, corn and pineapple!

The winner is:

I’ll be emailing you shortly! Congrats and I hope your fiancé loses his mind!

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for those of you who tagged Shutterbean recipes on Instagram. I love seeing your creations! If you find yourself making one of my recipes and you post it to Instagram, will you tag it with #shutterbean? I’d love to see what you’re up too. Thank you!!!

recipes

August 21, 2014

Yogurt + Lemon Curd + Banana

I usually put jam or honey into my Greek yogurt but I saw this jar of leftover lemon curd in fridge the other day and thought HMMMM Let’s try it! It’s tart and sweet with the addition of the sliced banana. That little bit of shredded coconut it feels like a tropical banana cream pie! I’m really into it because it reminds me of the lemon custard yogurt my brother and I used to fight over when we were kids.

recipes, sponsored

August 20, 2014

Grilled Steak Avocado Flatbread

New post! Grilled Steak Avocado Flatbread

There’s been a subtle shift in the weather the past few days here in the Bay Area. It’s taking longer for the fog to burn off in the morning and there’s a slight chill in the air. I’m not ready for this shift. I want to hold onto to Summer for as LONG AS POSSIBLE. I feel like I didn’t have enough outdoor eating time the past few months What gives??!

I was gifted a gigantic flat of avocados by the California Avocado Commission (THANK YOU!!) last week and couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate other than having a leisurely Sunday BBQ at my house. The stars aligned and my friend Gaby (author of Absolutely Avocados) stopped by with her husband for a late lunch this past weekend and I made this Grilled Steak & Avocado Flatbread with my Apple Avocado Salad and Spiked Blueberry Lemonade. I also made an awesome dairy-free chocolate pudding (with avocados!) that I’ll share next week. As you can imagine, it’s avocado central in my house right now.

For this flatbread, I used my favorite no-knead pizza dough. The dough gets grilled, avocado gets smashed on top followed by grilled steak, charred onions and juicy roasted tomatoes rest on top. I finished with a healthy squeeze of fresh lime juice to add a nice tang. It’s like avocado toast meets pizza meets fajitas. In other words, it was GOOD. I felt good to impress such an avocado aficionado 😉

recipes

August 18, 2014

Spiked Blueberry Lemonade

Spiked Blueberry Lemonade!

Today is my birthday. August 18th! AND IT’S MONDAY AND I HAVE TO WORK.

I think that give me a pass to not write a long-winded post about this drink.

This is the last cocktail I had as a 34-year-old. It’s lemonade spiked with gin and finished with fizzy blueberry soda. It’s been one of my favorite drinks this summer. I’m gonna be craving this come winter. But that’s cool, I’m gonna step up my toddy game this year.