November 19, 2013

Outfitting: Black & White Cocktail Dresses

Holiday parties are upon us! I always like to get a new cocktail dress for the holidays. I like to go with something black (shocker!) or black & white (SHOCKER!) because I like to add a bit of sparkle in my accessories or a little color in my cardigan and/or tight pairing. When I make a dress purchase, I think about long term- Can I wear this again in another season by changing the accessories? YES, yes I can. So that’s why I usually go with my gut and my gut says BLACK & WHITE. Today, I’ve put together some of my favorites. I’m quite fond of number six. Which one do you love?

ONE/TWO/THREE/FOUR/FIVE/SIX/SEVEN/EIGHT

recipes

November 18, 2013

Country Italian Salad

Let’s make another one of my favorite Trader Joe’s salads. This Country Italian Salad is one of my go-to salads when I’m grabbing a quick lunch at work.

I usually pair it with a cup of Trader Joe’s Red Pepper Tomato Soup (which I add a little cheese & hot sauce up in).

Now I have meals for work the rest of the week. What I love about this salad is the crunch, the protein from the beans, the tangy dressing and the sweet peppers. It’s definitely good on its own, although you could add some tuna, chopped chicken or go wild and add avocado in there. You could also pair it with grilled sausage & grilled flatbread. That sounds good, right??! The garlicy parmesan dressing (that get’s even better on day two) is where it’s at. I want to put it on everything.

Other Trader Joe’s Salad I’ve Shutterbean-ified (totally a word) include:

BBQ CHICKEN SALAD

SUPER SPINACH SALAD

BROCCOLI KALE SLAW

my everyday life, Photography

November 17, 2013

My Everyday Life: Week 46

Here’s what the past week looked like:

Pink cotton candy sky.

November 15, 2013

I love lists, Friday!

I am 53 % Right Brained & 47% Left Brained. This makes so much sense.
Oddly related- Why Creative People Make No Sense. So good.
I love reading other people’s guides to San Francisco.
My friend Tami had the most beautiful wedding.
One of my favorite coffee cakes now with pistachios!
What a beautiful body of work. A real inspiration.
Homemade Sugar Scrub you’ll want to eat.
This post resonated with me. Makes me feel good know to we use the same techniques!
These real estate signs had me snorting.
HELLO. Can I eat ALL OF THESE? Cool.
Thanks, Sabrina for putting my soup in your lineup!
This salad has my name on it. OMG.
Thanksgiving as a kid vs. Thanksgiving as an adult.
Did you see that hilarious Wes Anderson SNL Spoof? Here’s how they made it!
I’ve been reading Simple Mom FOREVER and am excited to see it’s new chapter!
You don’t want to see me when I’m hangry.
Currently listening to Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls on my commute to work.
I didn’t realize that I was a germaphobe until I saw this.
This is my song of the week. I’m obsessed with it.

There’s a new Joy the Baker Podcast!! It’s Monday, or whatever…. This week we surprise each other with topics. We talk about Oprah, how to get a bartender’s attention & how we can get out of speeding tickets…fun times. Go listen.

Real Life Test Kitchen made my Sriracha Mac & Cheese

Simmiecakes made my Pear Cornmeal Cake with Rosemary Syrup

The Thoughtful Plate adapted my Flourless Chocolate Coconut Drops

Homemade & Wholesome adapted my Dark Chocolate Baked Doughnuts

Not Quite Gourmet made my Carrot Coconut Soup

Sonoma Girl adapted my Spinach Tortellini Soup

Just Jan’s Jam was inspired by my Mini Cheddar Popovers

featured, recipes

November 13, 2013

Flourless Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

If you follow my Instagram, you might already know that I’m kind of obsessed with making pancakes these days. I’ve actually been eating these pancakes or a banana version for almost every breakfast for the past few months. I’ve limited the amount of times I’ve posted pictures because I don’t want you to know how freaky my food obsessions are. Ahem…it’s bad.

So, welcome to my latest food addiction. These pancakes have NO FLOUR in them. Which is great if you’re looking to cut down your carb intake, trying out Paleo or you’re gluten free. They taste much like a dutch baby pancake- light, fluffy, and a little eggy. I’ve found that if you roast your own pumpkin or even acorn squash you have much better results with the texture of these pancakes. Canned puree can make them a little too runny. If you want, you can substitute sweet potatoes or even make a banana version (just add 1 mashed banana to the mix!). Just make sure there’s a bit of texture in your mixture.

I really like adding coconut butter, maple syrup & sliced bananas on top. Sometimes I’ll add chopped pecans or macadamia nuts.

Three reasons why I LOVE THEM SO MUCH:

1. Cooper is a fan (don’t tell them it’s just egg! he won’t even try regular eggs)

2. They come together in a snap! If I can make them and get a 5 year old off to school, then you can!

3. They’re protein packed—which means that I’m not gonna need a second breakfast at 10am.

TRUST ME.

Getting Ready for the Holidays with Zazzle

We’re not the family that gets holiday portraits done every year. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever had a professional portrait done of us! I think that needs to change soon. We also don’t have tons of pictures of us around the house mostly because figuring out what photos to print and actually PRINTING photos can be a long arduous process for me; I get easily distracted. You should see how long it takes me to create a holiday card every year. I think I spent 12 hours on it last year. You think I’m kidding? I’m not.

I’ve wanted to get some of my favorite photos printed, when I was offered a gift certificate from online photo printing service Zazzle , I went for it.

recipes

November 11, 2013

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

The one thing that is guaranteed to make me really excited in life is FOOD. SHOCKER, isn’t it??! I spend most of my free time thinking about food and reading cookbooks. Thoughts of food combinations, flavor profiles, textures, and cuisines all litter my head. If only I could channel this thought process into more productive things like cleaning up all the piles of crap around my house. But…. that would be no fun.

In this crazy brain of mine I’ve had this idea to combine two of my husband’s favorite things together. It’s been on my mind for weeks and I finally did it! Whenever we are out for burgers, he ALWAYS orders a bacon cheeseburger with jalapeños. He then proceeds to put Tabasco on said burger as well as his fries…and I think he does the fries part just to mess with me cuz I WILL STEAL ALL OF HIS FRIES. We’ve been together for 14 years. He knows this and I know that I must suffer through Tabasco on my fries if I want to indulge in my carb fantasies. I digress…

Here we have the realization of my husband’s/my food fantasy. A pizza that taste like a burger. A burger that’s presented in pizza form. Instead of using marinara as the sauce, we have a ketchup & mustard combo. It’s sweet. It’s tangy! It’s smokey and spicy. It’s so good that I caught Casey standing in the kitchen late at night like Nigella Lawson (sans sexy/silky robe) eating some over the sink.