Efficient Flying

While most of us view traveling long distance as tiresome, irritating, and a waste of a precious day, I have figured out that some of my best multitasking can be done mid-flight. For instance, this post was written while flying over the Rockies, working, g-chatting with my besties, drinking a Bloody Mary, eating a sando, watching Bravo TV and listening to some amazing Christmas songs. Whoever said it all can't be done, obviously hasn't flown Virgin. Luckily the person next to me didn't show up, so not only did I have leg room for days in my emergency exit seat, but I had extra tray space and a place to set my large coat!

And with this post, I welcome Ria and myself back into the blogosphere. We took a mini hiatus while we had some serious funsies, but now we are back in the swing of things and ready to treat everyone with some Holiday magic.

It's Friday, B*tches!!

Happy Friday friends!  We are SO looking forward to this weekend!  Alana is hosting a Ladies night for several friends to get together which we will of course be blogging about next week!

I am making Caprese Skewers and Funfetti Cake Pops (from a box)...hope they turn out!

In the meantime, here are a few of our favorite things for summertime!

* Evolution Fresh cold-pressed juices:

I discovered these when I received a coupon for them at Starbucks, but they are much cheaper at the grocery store. They help me feel a little less guilty for the ground turkey marinara sauce pasta I made and have been eating for lunch all week... I love the Sweet Greens and Lemon as well as the Essential Greens.  I can't wait to try more!

* Skinny Girl Cocktails:

 Skinny Girl cocktails are essential for a weekend with the ladies. My favorite is the Margarita! It is great poolside or to pregame with before you go hit the clubs. Bethenny hit this one out of the ball park. I haven't tried all of the other Skinny Girl drinks, but if they are half as good as the margarita then sign me up.

* A friendly game of mini-golf:

I think my hole-in-one on the 1st hole was eclipsed by my last place finish?  Next time I need to work on my patience.  I matched my ball color with my pumpkin-orange pedi, though :)

P.s. This is obviously Ria and not Alana, because Alana would have gotten first place!!

* Ballerina Pink gel manicure with a touch of sparkle:

Gel manicures have been my absolute favorite indulgence this summer.  It is so nice to not have to worry about your polish chipping and a pretty manicure always pulls together any outfit.  I added a touch of sparkle to jazz it up a bit.

My 4th of July gel manicure below also helped me feel extra festive!

* Artsy Lattes:

When I get the chance to spend time with my mom in San Diego, we have made a new habit of visiting The Lofty Bean first.  They have great organic coffee and tea with a sustainable mission.  The baristas also sing along to the radio and put a pretty finishing touch on your latte that can't help but make me smile.

Have a great weekend and drink responsibly!

Art Wall and Reading Nook

I love rearranging my apartment, especially my bedroom! I get the "itch" to move things around at least every 2 months. Once the urge comes on, it consumes my every thought and there is no stopping me (side note, its a great workout too!). I had recently cancelled cable, so I had more freedom with where I could move my TV. This opened up a world of new possibilities! The main problem I was facing is that there is just too much furniture in my room so I have to be really creative to fit it all in there without looking cluttered. The crazy thing is that I was able to add a chair in there and it ended up looking less cluttered than before. Not sure how that happened, but I am pretty excited about it!

The process started early Sunday afternoon and took about 4 hours to finally get everything in its place. My favorite new additions to my bedroom are the art wall and reading nook. The art wall is great because it is one central place where I can display my works of art (One of the paintings on there is my Grandpa's though). It creates a warm and homey feeling with the chair and I just want to sit for hours and read. Next book on the list: Fifty Shades of Grey!

Who else loves re-arranging their furniture??

Easy, Cheesy Toast

I was about to make some Parmesan toast, but feeling inspired by this post, I decided to make my own version (minus the avocado, sadly). It was absolutely delish on Trader Joes' Roasted Garlic Asiago bread (which you should try whether or not you make this toast)!

The only problem I had was broiling the cheese.  I tried the broiler in my oven AND the toaster oven but the cheese wouldn't broil!  This was fresh mozzarella so I am thinking that had something to do with it.  The fresh basil leaf torn up on top was a nice addition. I bought a basil plant last week at Trader Joes and it has the hugest leaves on it!  They were perfect for homemade Caprese - I will post that soon!  Anyways, this cheesy toast was a great quick and easy snack that definitely hit the spot.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures, as you can see I even took a bite before taking the picture above.  I was VERY hungry!

1.  Cut the amount of bread you would like from loaf.

2.   Squeeze desired amount of lemon juice over piece of bread (I used about 1/2 of a lemon, but I LOVE lemon juice!).

3.  Top with your favorite cheese. I had fresh mozarella on hand, but you could also use parmesan, jack, or whatever is your favorite.

4.  Sprinkle red peppers on top.  It would also be great with rosemary on top.

5.  Broil or toast for 5-10 minutes or until your toast looks about how you want to eat it.  Be careful not to over-broil your toast and burn it!

6.  Top with chopped fresh basil leaves and eat!

Red, White, and Blue Berries!

Last night, my friend Jenny sent me a picture of these Red, White and Blue Berries and I immediately asked her to guest post.  I saw these featured here, and wish I had the patience to make them tonight for the 4th of July tomorrow.

I met Jenny at my current workplace, Rodale.  We were both Sales Assistants together and after Jenny made the long (and brave) move across the country to NYC, we were both promoted to Sales Planner around the same time.  I am lucky to count Jenny as one of my good friends and couldn't get through the workday without having her a phone call (or gchat) away.

Please welcome guest blogger, Jenny Whiting!

Hello from NYC! I'm Ria's Co-Worker/East Coast Counterpart...and more importantly, devout follower of Yumsicles and happy to share a little festive treat that is perfect for your Fourth of July celebrations.

These are so incredibly easy it's ridiculous. All you need is three ingredients: Strawberries, white chocolate chips, and blue sugar. 

First, simply wash and dry your berries.

Next, melt the white chocolate chips (Tip - Melt in 20 seconds increments, taking the time to stir between each). 

Once the white chocolate is stirred smooth, dip your berries (make sure the berries are dry after you wash them so the dip adheres) and then immediately dip into the blue sugar. 

Place them on a cookie sheet or tray lined with parchment paper.  Continue this process with each berry until you are done.

Lastly, refrigerate until the chocolate is set. Enjoy!!

Now everyone, these are so easy and perfect to bring to that 4th of July BBQ or party.  Please send pics if you make them!

Mother's Day Painting - Melted Crayons

I wanted to do something special for Mother's Day. Since I have been painting semi frequently, I thought it was the perfect time to make my mom a painting and a one of a kind gift. The thought behind it initially was to do something with a mother and daughter holding hands. I am also obsessed with the song "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, especially the part "Home is whenever I'm with you" so I wanted to write that on the canvas. Long story short, it ended up looking creepy and I had to do a 180 to get it back on track. In hind sight I realize I had way too many things I wanted to incorporate into one painting and it took some working through to finally get my finished product.

Below is the progression of how I was finally able to finish my Mother's Day painting 1 month later (Rome wasn't built in a day, people!).

I started off with a sky as the background and I used this stencil as the inspiration for the mother/daughter figures.

Next, I added the "Home is whenever I'm with you" into the sky. There were just so many things wrong at this point. It looked like there was a growth on the side of the mom's head(supposed to be a bun) and the writing at the top was just creepy. Also, were these two people floating in the sky? Let's just say I wasn't thrilled with how it turned out.

Finally, after about a month of staring at the painting (thank god I hadn't seen my mom yet) someone sent me a link to a cool new art form of melting crayons with a hot glue gun. You can find the link here.

Once I saw this picture I knew this was how I was going to fix my painting. I wasn't sure how at that point, I just knew it was going to be done!

I searched through some pictures and found this great mother daughter picture under umbrellas. I used it as inspiration and the first step to recovering the painting (it took steps to recovery, kind of like an AA program).

Now we are talking! Looking better already. Next, I decided to add some grass because I didn't like the thought of this witchy mother/daughter tag team floating through space with their umbrellas. I had never painted grass before so it was a fun new experience. I watched a YouTube video and had to get a new wide brush to get added texture. It is crazy how paint can look so real (obviously I'm not at that stage yet, but it is always fun to try out new techniques).

Melting the crayons was the most fun part and the most dangerous. I sealed up the parts of the canvas that I didn't want to get tainted by the crayons (I used tin foil because it was the only thing in my apartment, but I'm sure saran wrap would work great too). I separated out the crayons that resembled rain and only used those. I used some greens and greys as well to add some fun color and life to the piece. Warning: the crayons will splatter and shoot out and burn you, etc. Be very careful and make sure to cover up the area around the canvas you are working on.

In the end, I was really proud of the painting and my Mom loved it too :D

No Crust Quiche

I know most people do not get excited at the thought of a quiche, but this past Christmas we made this No Crust Quiche as one of the breakfast items and it changed my thoughts on the traditional dish (mostly taking the effort of making a homemade quiche, I buy the frozen ones frequently from TJ's).  It definitely wasn't the first time I had eaten this in my twenty four years, but it was the first time I appreciated the magic of a quiche.  Not only is it simple to make and healthy but it is also extremely cost effective and tastes great as leftovers. I have made it several times since, and it continues to impress me and hit the spot every time (My boyfriend loves it too and even requests it).  It is so easy to throw the ingredients together and pop it into the oven if you are expecting friends or family for brunch (I made this for Easter also - maybe it will become a holiday tradition).  If you are just making it for a few people, the leftovers are great for breakfasts during the week (just microwave), or if you like you can switch it up and eat it for lunch or dinner.

Here's what you need:

• 1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
• 10 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pint cottage cheese
• 1 pound shredded jack cheese
• 1 small can ortega chilis
• 1 small can chopped black olives
• chopped mushrooms (optional) - I do not like mushrooms, so I leave these out

Toppings (pick and choose what you like):

• sliced avocado
• salsa or diced tomatoes
  
• sour cream
• diced jalapeños

We used diced jalapeños, tomatoes, and avocado

First, melt the butter (I just put it in a microwave-safe bowl and kept checking the microwave in 20 second increments until it was melted).  While butter is melting, crack all of the eggs into a bowl and beat.  Then add the melted butter.

Stir in the baking powder, flour, jack cheese, cottage cheese, olives, and chilis.

Once all ingredients are combined, pour into a large baking dish (approx. 9 x 12)

It will look like this:

We topped half with sliced jalapeños to test it out, but decided we prefer them diced on top once the quiche is cooked.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes,
then at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
You will know it is done once it starts to firm up and begins to brown.

Wait about 5-10 minutes for the quiche to cool, then cut and serve with your choice of toppings.  We also cooked bacon to eat with the quiche.  Enjoy!

Healthy Treat - Raw "Cookie Dough" Bites

Frozen Cookie Dough Bites

 
If you are reading this, you MUST go get the ingredients and make these delicious treats tonight!  Soooo yummy and healthy too!  If you know me, I am the queen of treats.  Seriously, it is a miracle I don't weight 300 pounds (maybe I am getting close...)!  These Raw "Cookie Dough" Bites are made with nuts and oats so they are healthy (guilt-free)!  I made these last night and had to post about them today!  I am aware that I am going overboard with the exclamation marks!

When I came across this recipe (here) I decided to give it a try but I was VERY skeptical.  I mean come on, how can you throw together a bunch of healthy ingredients with some chocolate chips and have it taste like dessert?  But these are great!  Seriously...you must make them!  I was eating the dough before I even put the balls into the freezer.

Here's what you need:

• 2/3 cup raw almonds
• 2/3 cup raw walnuts
• 2/3 cup raw oat flakes (I used the oatmeal I already had at home)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup raw agave nectar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips)

Ingredients (forgot the oats in the picture)

First of all, I don't have a food processor, and it wasn't necessary.  So I put the almonds, walnuts, oat flakes and cinnamon into my magic bullet and did a bit of blending, shaking, blending, shaking and blending.  Finally I poured everything in to a bowl and sifted through to get the large chunks of nuts to blend those again.  Small chunks are definitely ok, just not large pieces of nuts.

Next, I poured the blended ingredients into a bowl and added the vanilla and agave nectar and stirred until all of the mixture was coated (not dry).  Then, I blended up the chocolate chips for a few seconds and mixed that in.  Then form the mixture into tiny, bite-sized balls and freeze for one hour (if you can wait that long, or just gobble them up)!

Please ignore my chipped nails

PLEASE make this and let us know if you loved these treats as much as I did!

Breakfast Ham Cups

I love breakfast, it is my favorite meal of the day.. hands down! So when it came time for some friends to come over, I knew I had to step up my game and finally do some cooking. It was Saturday morning and everyone was coming over before we went to the beach, so my intention was to wow them with my skills and feed them something healthy at the same time (we couldn't eat anything heavy and look like beached whales in our bikinis). The only problem there was that I am pretty lazy (hence why I never cook; preparing, cooking, cleaning...so much work). So my mentality was, what is the fanciest meal I can make with the least effort?!?.. Now this meal is what I call a success! I hope everyone can tell by now it is not Ria doing this food post.

Ria's post on Friday about the pizza cups got me to thinking.. Could I somehow make the pizza cup concept into a breakfast dish? So I text messaged Ria who immediately directed me to a recipe that incorporated ham, veggies and egg in a small bowl (she is on top of her shit). I skimmed over the recipe and then decided to make it my own, using ingredients that I love and a cupcake tin so that I could make breakfast for everyone at the same time. It was really the perfect dish for me to make because the preparation was easy, cleaning was a breeze and it tasted more delicious than I could have imagined.

What you will need:

* cupcake tin
* pam (non-stick spray)
* 12 eggs
* ham ( 1 package of deli style smoked ham)
* tomatoes
* red bell pepper
* clove of garlic
* spinach (1 bag)
* white onion
* cheddar cheese (optional)
* avocado (optional)

Step 1: Preheat the Oven to 375 degrees and spray the cupcake tin with non-stick spray.

Step 2: While the oven is heating, put some butter or olive oil in a pan with minced garlic and sautee the spinach and onions. I used half of the bag of spinach which ended up being the perfect amount. Once cooked, put in a bowl.

Step 3: Chop the tomatoes and bell peppers. Put them in a bowl together.

Step 4: Line each hole in the cupcake tin with ham. I used two pieces for each hole - leaving some length on the edges. This makes is easier to pull out of the cupcake tin after cooked.

Step 5: Layer in the ingredients. Start with the sauteed spinach and onions. Then put the tomatoes and bell peppers in. Finish each cup off with a cracked egg on top. I also experimented with egg whites. To be honest, this meal is already super healthy, so in my opinion only using the egg whites was unnecessary.

Step 6: Carefully put the cupcake tin into the oven. Set a timer for 15 minutes.

Step 7: After 15 minutes, add cheddar cheese to the top of each cup and put back into the oven for 10 minutes. Total cook time should be 25 minutes. The eggs might not look fully done, but trust me, they are! The edges of the ham will be crispy (Sooo delish).

Step 8: Once the cups have cooled down a little bit, pull out of cupcake tin (should be super easy to pull them out), put onto a plate, add some avocado(if that tickles your fancy) and enjoy!!

This recipe was adapted from Chrissy Teigen's Baked Eggs in Ham Cups.