Puppy Love, Introducing....

Lulu!! Our newest addition to our family zoo. She is 13 weeks of love, kisses and bites!

I will be back updating the blog more often, soon I promise!

"Pumpkin Sandwich"

While making my 4 year old daughter's lunch tonight I came up with the idea to get a little creative. Hey, it never hurts to entice a picky toddler with cute shapes right?

I used a pumpkin cookie cutter to make her PB & J and then used craisins to make the face.

Have a great night!

Fig recipes & Fall thoughts

Many things come to mind when I think of fall. Apples, pears, winter squash, crisp cool air, leaves falling, the farmers cutting down the feed corn in front of our house, decorating for Halloween, more Starbucks runs for warm lattes, and of course pumpkins too!

Well we can now add fig picking to that list! I planted the fig tree 3 years ago and we would get a handful of nice ones. This year we are getting the mother load! I love to pick a few fresh from the tree and plop them in my mouth but its even more fun experimenting with them in the kitchen!

Last week we had friends over and for a app I sliced the ripe figs in half but not completely through, filled them with goat cheese, then wrapped them with half a slice of prosciutto before placing them in oven at about 400 for just a few minutes to warm them up and get gooey. Lastly I used reduced balsamic to drizzle on top. They were delish, especially with a great glass of Cabernet!

Today I was trying to use up some of my fruit in my fridge along with the figs so I sliced:

1 apple
1 Asian Pear, or aka Apple Pear
10 or so figs (mine are brown turkey figs)

Then I pulled out my mini crockpot and put 1 Tablespoon of whipped butter, 2 packets of Splenda, and sprinkling of Cinnamon. Plug in and cook till desired texture ( we like ours soft enough for the kids to eat but not applesauce either), usually 2-3 hours since these little pots take a bit to warm up.

Hope you enjoy!

Cookies and Cream and 25 grams of protein oh my!

I have been quite absent from my blog lately and it's just due to a super busy summer! Hopefully with pre k starting up soon I will get around to posting alot more often : )

Today I am posting about a new product I am using for breakfast and lunch or sometimes breakfast and dinner. It is GNC Lean Shake 25 cookies and cream flavored. It was recommended to me by my good friend Shannon, who is a college student and she swears by this stuff! Whether she is on the run to class or going to a frat party, it's an easy meal!! We are all watching the lbs and trying to look our best so this keeps you good and full and is packed with vitamins AND 25 grams of Protein!!! I don't eat a whole lot of meat, basically the occasional chicken or turkey, but being a former vegetarian it's still not too appealing to me. So this is a great way for me to get that protein in and get those 5 extra off my hips so I can get in my J Crew toothpick jeans!!

Shannon described the taste as a cookies and cream milk shake, and I have to agree with her! I used 3/4 milk and the rest water. I put it in my good ole Magic Bullet with a few cubes of ice and enjoy! It does not have a powdery taste either.

They also sell it in a premixed to go version in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Good to have for on the road so you can avoid drive throughs!!

Let me know if you like it as much as us!

Tree Frog Love

I found this little guy in our house tonight. So we had a little chat with him, wished him well and sent him back out to the flower garden! Thanks for the visit little dude ; )

Massive Mater!

Here is the biggest yet!

Watermelon Mani!

I did this mani right before July 4th but I have been so busy I forgot to post it till now. If anyone needs the colors I can dig them out of my stash!

Pastel GLAM mani, Essie Tart Deco with accent glitter

I'm so into the accent nail right now!

Here is my favorite coral from Essie, Tart Deco.

I did a post back in early spring "My favorite coral", with this shade and it just came back up in my nail polish rotation so I decided to accent the ring finger nails with some orange glitter nail polish I had left from Halloween!

LOVIN it right now!!

Shop at Pacifica Perfume and Receive $10 Off

Shop at Pacifica Perfume and Receive $10 Off


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What I'm eating for dinner summer series

Tonight's dinner main is my favorite staple to use over and over with little subtle tweaks to it here and there.

I use the zucchini and squash from my garden, hopefully will have ripe tomatoes too in a few days! Try to use veggies from your garden or farmers market for ultimate freshness!!

Ingredients:

2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
1/2 large garden tomato
1 tsp minced garlic (ready to use jar)
Sea salt to taste
Ground pepper to taste
Small sliver of butter



Spray pan, sauté Medium Heat

Add all ingredients except tomato, when squash starts to soften add tomato and cook a few more minutes till done

Enjoy your healthy meal!

Patriotic Nails!

This was a spur of the moment thing tonight when my 3 year old wanted a mani & pedi! Trying to get a 3 year old to sit still for @ 15 mins while they dried was quite the task! I also did my nails too.

I can post colors if anyone needs them.

Happy 4th of July!

Welcome Summer Wreath

I just love this wreath that I made on a rainy afternoon the other day!

I used a hay wrapped wreath with plastic overlay then raided my summer fabric stash that included Lilly Pulitzer fabric, mermaids and other fun prints! Next I made some ribbon, felt, and fabric scrap flowers, added some starfish, made a cute bunting out of felt and there ya have it!

If interested I am taking orders for wreaths with same or similar summer fun fabrics, they are priced at $50.00.

I have another cute wreath in the works with beach toys I will be debuting soon too!

I have been meaning to post some samples of sewing, embroidery, and appliqué project pictures for awhile now. So here are some things I have made for others and for my kids!

Mermaid is not lost at sea!!

I have been very sporadic about posting lately and this pic will explain it!!

My new toy, Singer Futura xl400 sewing & embroidery machine has sucked all of my time from me! I just love this thing! I have made 2 dresses, a necklace, and tons of embroidery monograms.

I will do some more posting tonight of some pics of all my latest projects!

Ice coffee ice cubes!!


As everyone knows I am a self confessed Starbucks addict!! So I am attempting to curb  my everyday (and sometimes two a day..gasp!)visits.  So I am making coffee ice cubes and I'm gonna use my k cups of Green Mountain coffee to pour over, add skim milk, and maybe even the Starbucks Carmel Drizzle on top as a dupe for my Iced Skinny Carmel Macchiato. Save me some calories too!

I promise I wont be absent again for so long again!  I have been on a crafting spree and I'll post some pics of that soon!  I'm also hoping to launch a etsy store too sometime in the future.

Stay tuned!

Spring & Summer Compost Tips

With these past two weeks of juice cleansing I have had a ton of nicely shredded veggie and fruit scraps. What a great boost for my compost! I have been making daily runs out to the compost bin and it's quickly building up.

A few tips I have for you on composting in the spring and summer are below. These are just ideas that have worked well for me.

**********Spring and Summer Compost pointers***********

1. Take scraps out daily since the heat makes even the tightest pail stinky.

2. Separate your pile into two separate piles, winter till now, and from here on through the fall
( you will take the older pile and use now, I will be spreading mine on my garden as soon as its tilled in the next week or so). The newer pile is good to spread on your garden in the fall for good fertilization for the next years crop.

First picture below is my new scrap pile

3. Give your pile a weekly toss, with the heat, your pile will be "brewing" more. I try to get the new stuff mixed in well with the finer decomposed stuff for faster composting.

4. Make use of some free grass clippings after your lawn is mowed. My hubs usually rakes me a pile after he cuts and tosses it on top. Just can't forget to add your "browns" in the summer! (tiny sticks, leaves, grass, etc)

5. Just a little bonus to fill you in on, every year I get a ton of tomato plants that sprout up on their own in the garden from the seeds that are in the compost. Most of them in our case are cherry tomato plants.

6. Happy worms, happy compost! If you see lots of worms then that's a great sign you are doing everything right and the soil is getting finer and softer!

Any questions, just ask and I'll do my best to answer them!

Keep on juicing or smooth'n!

Today for the cleanse I'm enjoying the Passion 4 Smoothie. After watching Jason's video yesterday for Day 5 he mentioned that one Mom on the cleanse was also spoon feeding some to her baby too! Duh, why didn't I think of that?! I've made fresh baby food
But never thought of blending in fresh juices too.

So today after making mine I also made this for baby:

Juice 1/4 pineapple
1 carrot

In a Magic Bullet or similar blend 3 banana's and juice mixture together.

And voila fresh and healthy baby breakfast!!

Passion 4 Smoothie

So actually your not supposed to have the "passion 4" smoothie till day 3, but I had banana's that were perfect today, not too yellow, not too green, just right. So I couldn't resist! Just as Jason says on his books, do what works for you. Maybe your fruit is riper one day than another, just swap another day's juice.

This one will really fill you up too! Here is the pic below.

Avocados, Strawberries? Yes, Please!!

I do have to admit that Last night I was exhausted and hungry so with Jason's advice in the Day 1 video, I ate an avocado. I know, big cheater right? Not really, they are filled with tons of water and are the most nutritious fruit there is 😄. Just a squeeze of lemon or lime and dive right in!!!

This brings me to the strawberries. Yesterday I mentioned that the spirulina and wheatgrass can be a little bit hard to get used to. So today I subbed a small handful of strawberries for one of the apples to kind of "hide" the green powder taste. I picked up some gorgeous ones at the store till my garden "strawbs" (what my big kiddo calls them) are ready in another few months.

Also wanted to point out my love for The Magic Bullet! Love this sucker!! I used it for so much and the clean up is so easy since I can throw the cup and blade in dishwasher.

As you can see my spirulina came from the Vitamin shop and wheatgrass from there as well. Also on amazon too!

Have a juicy day!

Day 1 of The Big Juice Spring Clean!

Good Morning!

I'm starting of today with The juice master's "Super Juice". It is just one of 5 yummy juices I will be having today. Here is the recipe:

1/2 lime
2 apples
1/4 pineapple
1/4 cucumber
1/4 avocado
1 scoop of wheatgrass powder or 1 oz shot fresh
1 teaspoon of spirulina
4 ice cubes
Also calls for 1capsule of good bacteria, I like to take it separate though!

Juice all except avocado, then blend avocado, ice, juice, wheatgrass powder, & spirulina.

Enjoy!

Beginners beware that the wheatgrass and spirulina are a little tough to get used to at first but sooo good for you!

The big spring clean juice cleanse

If you have been following my blog you would know I love a food juice cleanse!

Well this week starting tomorrow I will be doing just that. If you are interested in doing it with me just go to:

http://www.juicemaster.com

Jason Vale, aka the "juicemaster" has a daily inspiration email, usually with a video, and he will get you motivated to get through this week. He is doing a two part/two week cleanse. I think I will do the two week but I don't like to commit to two weeks in the beginning since it feels too long, but I usually end up doing two!

Happy juicing!

My super easy shrimp egg rolls

I have been wanting to share this yummy egg roll recipe I created for awhile now. They are a much healthier alternative to take out!

So this is what you need:

1 pkg of egg roll's (I find mine in the produce section near the tofu)

1 bag of shredded carrots

1 bag of bean sprouts

1 really small cabbage, or 1/2 of a medium cabbage

2 small containers of fresh precut mushrooms

Hoisin sauce

Vegetable oil spray

Shrimp (this is flexible, sometimes I get fresh or in a pinch I use small frozen ones I keep on hand)

So I spray a large pot or wok and sauté everything except shrimp (I add shrimp at the end so they don't get too tough), I also add a tablespoon of the hoison sauce (can add teriyaki or any type of sweet Asian sauce you like)

Sauté for 5 mins or so until everything cooks down a bit. Then follow the pictures on how to roll up the egg roll. Spray a cookie sheet with pan spray, place rolls on it, give the top of rolls a quick spray too, so they come out crunchy. Bake at 375 for 10-15 mins.

Enjoy! Dip in sauce of choice ; )

Freshly pressed grapefruit juice

I am always trying to use up all of my fruits and veggies and not waste anything! Sometimes I get on a grapefruit for breakfast kick but lately here I have been having oatmeal.

So I noticed today I had four grapefruits starting to get a little old and I thought why not give them a good press with my citrus juicer!

A sticky mess of course, but really worth it in the end. Since they are in season in winter and early spring they are super sweet and even my 3 yr old was drinking it!

As far as citrus juicers I can't say that I recommend this one. You have to hold the base and the fruit at the same time. If only they made one with a suction bottom...now that would be love!

I am going to do another juice cleanse for 2 weeks starting next Monday, but I will be posting about it soon!

Happy Easter!

Splash of Spring Nails

For me, spring can't come fast enough this year. Just to be outside in fresh air, the sweet salty smell of the ocean, and to wear some new fun spring trends.

Enough already with kids, hubs and myself being sick all winter and being stuck inside. So even though I'm still wearing long sleeves and jeans these nails give me a "splash of spring"!! I love the artistic look if it too.

Another source of inspiration for me was the uplifting new spring 2012 Target commercial and ads, you know the ones with the hot air balloon and they all jump out and are wearing so much vibrant colors? How can you not love how fun they are running all around!! I just want to jump in the screen and join in.

To create it I just pulled a rainbow array of colors from my stash and my Essie Waltz. For the first picture I used a tiny paint brush to make the spots. But on my right hand I tried using just the brush instead and I kind of liked it better!

2 coats of waltz
Array of colors, use as many colors as you want!

Wait a few minutes before applying top coat, Seche Vite so it doesn't make the spots run.

Zucchini Boats!!

With spring upon us now I am craving fresh veggies and light meals. Tonight I made "Zucchini Boats", it's a recipe that my late Mom Mom Dot made often and I always loved it. Here is the quick recipe:

2 zucchini's sliced length wise about 4 times
EVOO spray
Good Parmesan cheese for topping ( I get mine at the specialty cheese section in the grocery store so it's real nice and sharp)
Salt & Pepper

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, spray with EVOO.
Place strips of zucchini on it and spray the tops with EVOO.
Salt & Pepper them
Top with Parmesan

Bake @ 15-20 mins at 375, then I put them under the broiler for about 3 mins on low till they look golden.

Yum!

My Mom Mom made such a positive impact on my life and I have so many awesome memories of her. My favorite is when I was living in Lahaina, Maui and she flew out from the east coast by herself, to spend Christmas with me. She loved exploring the upper west side that was like "old Hawaii", going to the Old Lahaina Luau and eating the local food. She had the aloha spirit no matter where she was. This one's for you Mom Mom : )

Tie on crochet hand towel

I have been dabbling in crochet for about two weeks now. I just learned to knit back in October and I figured I should learn crochet to since some of the projects I like on Ravelry are crochet too.

This is one of my first creations, it is a crochet hand towel with ribbon ties so you can tie it on to your oven or dishwasher handle and it won't fall off!

I used Lily Sugar and Cream yarn and just single crochet the entire ball then used two red grosgrain ribbon pieces and hand threaded them through the top and back.

It was fun and quick ; )