Kale Chips

In my recent attempt to eat healthier, I purchased kale while on my weekly grocery shopping trip to Trader Joe's. To all of you who think Kale is simply a garnish, think again! Once I got home I realized I wasn't in the mood for a salad so I investigated other ways to prepare and eat kale.  I decided to make kale chips (once again taking something healthy and making it unhealthy aka more yummy. These are still extremely healthy though and a great alternative to potato chips).  I covered a baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up and poured half the bag of kale onto the tray.  I drizzled some olive oil on top and used my hands to toss the kale before grinding some sea salt on top.  Then I put the tray into the oven for 20 minutes at 300 degrees and ... voila! Kale chips!  An easy, healthy, salty snack!

The most delicious salty lettuce you will ever eat...

DIY Project: Party Chalk Wine Glasses

Have you ever had people over to your house and gotten your wine glasses mixed up? You set your glass down, walk around (do a lap or two, maybe bust a move) and then when you come back you don't know if the glass to your right is yours or the person standing next to you. This happens to me ALL of the time. It doesn't help that I hate germs (cooties - sick!).

I've seen this idea of a couple of different places (mostly Pinterest) and have really been wanting to try it out. I had some free time this weekend so I decided it was finally time to get down and dirty with some chalk board paint and wine glasses. It took a couple of hours, but will take more time if you use my advice below and do multiple coats. The best part of this is that you get the fun of decorating and you always know which glass is yours (Winning). I tested the process out with wine glasses from the 99 cent store (yes, they are plastic) but you can also do this to nicer glasses, which I will eventually do.

What you will need:

* Set of wine glasses
* Chalk board paint (can be found at Lowe's - Roughly $15 for a quart)
* Painters tape (also Lowe's or any hardware store)
* Paint brush
* Chalk (I only used white, but colored chalk would be fab too)

I also bought some paint crystals to put into my paint to make some of them sparkle! I haven't decided if I like the plain or the sparkled ones better.

Step 1: Make sure that you have newspaper or something under your glasses before you begin so that paint doesn't get onto the surface you are painting on. Begin by wrapping the painter's tape around the mid-point of the stem of the glasses.

Step 2: Paint the bottom half of the glasses. There is a fine line between completely covering the glass so that it is solid and having the paint too thin. I would suggest doing a thinner application and once that dries going back over it with another coat (I did one thick coat and it came out a little bit chunky in some areas). If you are adding sparkles now is the time to do it. You simply mix the Paint Crystals in with the chalk board paint and the glass is blinged out!

Step 3: Once completely dry, carefully remove the Painters tape and write something on your glass! All you have to do to remove the chalk is wipe with a wet paper towel.

Now I have a great excuse to have some friends over to drink wine!

Meatless Monday: Cajun Corn Chowder

Thank you Twitter for leading me to this recipe for Vegan Chipotle Corn Chowder!  I have never made a recipe from Haylie Duff's Real Girl's Kitchen blog before, and I'm not quite convinced that Haylie Duff is a "real girl," but I really liked this recipe.

The recipe looked simple and I was craving soup, but I decided that I wasn't in the mood for the chipotle chile taste so I switched it up with some Cajun seasoning instead (which is also great on eggs!). So here we have Vegan Cajun Corn Chowder.  I don't want to brag, but it came out great (especially with the chopped red bell pepper on top)!  The peppers added a little extra crunch to compliment the corn and made for a great texture. Be prepared for a lot of leftovers because this recipe makes a TON of soup (you can always cut the ingredients in half or freeze some for later)!


Here is what you need:

• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• half of a red bell pepper, diced
• half of a yellow onion, diced
• half of a potato, peeled and diced
• 6 cups of corn (you can cheat like me and use frozen)
• 2 cups of unsweetened soy milk
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp of Cajun Seasoning
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• crushed red peppers

I followed the recipe as it was on the website, but added the crushed red peppers while sauteing the veggies.  I also used a bit more vegetable broth because when I was blending up the veggies it seemed a little thick. Here is how it went for me:


First, I chopped the celery, bell pepper, onion and potato.

Then, I sauteed the veggies in the olive oil along with the crushed red pepper.

After the veggies were cooked until soft (I would suggest putting the potato in first since that takes the longest), add the vegetable broth.

Next stir in half of the corn (3 cups)...

Once the corn softened I added it to the blender (in two batches) and blended until smooth.

 

Lastly, pour the soup back into your pot, add the remaining corn (3 cups) and stir. Once the corn is heated it is time to devour!

Weekend BBQ: Chipotle Marinade

This Chipotle Marinade is perfect for a weekend BBQ! Whip it up tonight and let it sit on chicken overnight for for a tasty Saturday or Sunday BBQ. As most of my close friends know, Chrissy Teigen's So Delushious blog is one of my favorites. After contemplating for several months, I finally decided it was time to try out her "put on anything" Chipotle Marinade.  After work last week, I went to Ralph's to pick up the essential ingredients: chipotle peppers and limes.  I bought two cans of chipotle chiles not knowing how many were in each can (there were 13 in one can!).  Since the recipe calls for two chiles and is supposed to be spicy, I decided to multiply the other ingredients by 7 to make a large batch of the marinade with the 13 chiles since the original recipe seemed like an awfully small amount (after all, you can put it on anything) and I would have probably just thrown the rest of the chiles in the trash if I didn't use them right away.

Here's what you need:

• 2 chipotle chiles in adobo
• 3 tablespoons tequila or vodka (I forgot this ingredient in the picture below, but doesn't everyone have a bottle or two in their freezer at all times?!)
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, from chipotle can
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Add the ingredients together in the blender:

Looking tasty yet...?

Blended together below.  The texture should almost be fluffy.

Put a couple chicken breasts in a ziploc with the marinade and let them sit over night.

In the end, there was a lot of marinade! I put some of it on top of two chicken breasts to marinate (I checked out the chicken thighs and drums as Chrissy uses and just couldn't bring myself to buy them).  I didn't end up cooking the chicken for a few days so I brought it to my boyfriend's house thinking we could BBQ together.  Long story short, I ended up leaving the chicken in his freezer and he cooked them without me (that was almost a deal breaker, lucky for him he's cute)!  He said they were delicious, but I will have to post an update next time I try the marinade...in the mean-time one of you will have to try it and send me pictures/comments/mouth-watering details.  I swear if you read Chrissy Teigen's blog post you will want to make this tonight!

Find the full recipe here: Chrissy Teigen's Chipotle Marinade 

Featured Artist: Laurel Scribner

Laurel is an amazing artist. I went to one of her shows last year and it blew my socks off! I really wanted to share her work on the blog, so I asked her for some of her favorite pieces and a short bio. Laurel loves supporting local artists and you can always find her around LA at a gallery or checking out new shows. She is inspired by the quirks of LA, old film (she thinks Hitchcock is a genius) and traveling (she always has her camera glued to her and takes amazing and memorable pictures - as evident by her Facebook page). Anywhere new is exciting to her, especially nature because she thinks it's important to get out from under florescent lighting. Her boo Jody and dog Ralph are also a big source of her creativity and inspiration. Check out some pictures of Ralph at the bottom, he is adorable!

Also, you can go to Laurel's Etsy Shop where you will find affordable, super cute, original prints she has for sale.

A word form the artist: 

I'm an illustrator, graphic designer and printmaker. I work as a graphic designer at Walt Disney Imagineering creating signage for the Disney theme park. Being a Disney fan, I'm working my dream job. I also make time for my personal work as well. When I was in college I took a book arts class and learned to make linocuts. Since then, it's become one of my favorite mediums. Linocuts are simply blocks of linoleum carved with the image you'd like to see. Once carved, you cover it with ink and press onto paper...basically like a giant, hard stamp. I love linocuts because they have such a rich, nostalgic feel to them. Even the most simplistic designs can take a lot of thought and it's always fun to see the final prints. This year I've been creating one linocut each month based on a different scene of LA. This is a great way to keep my creativity flowing and make original affordable art.

Puppy Inspiration:

Lemon Pasta with Capers, Tomatoes and Spinach

This bowl of yumminess is an adaptation of Prevention's Bow Tie Pasta with Spinach, Tomato and Olives. It is very similar to my go-to pasta dish - noodle of your choice plus mozzeralla, basil and tomatoes with garlic and crushed red peppers (mmm, delicious!). This recipe is great because I absolutely love capers, but besides Chicken Piccata I can't seem to find another dish I like them in.  Since I had all of the ingredients except olives and needed to use my tomatoes, the time had come to whip this dish up!

Necessary ingredients:

• pasta of your choice
• olive oil
• crushed red peppers (if you want it to spice it up)
• tomatoes (I prefer cherry tomatoes)
• spinach (I used frozen)
• capers
• fresh lemon juice
• black pepper
• parmesean cheese

First, put the desired amount of spinach (I used about a cup) in a microwave safe bowl and thaw it in the microwave according to package directions (use fresh spinach if you prefer, but I didn't because it makes me sad to see the fresh spinach wilt down to such a little amount).  Then bring a pot of water to boil and cook noodles according to package directions.

Once the noodles have started cooking, add some olive oil to a pan (low to medium heat). Once it warms up, add the garlic and crushed red peppers and cook until garlic starts to brown.

 While that is cooking, chop the tomatoes.

After the garlic has started to brown, add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and stir.

Add the spinach and capers, stir, then add the cooked noodles and lemon juice (the more, the better) and stir again. 

Lastly, divide into serving bowls and top with Parmesan cheese (or put leftovers in Tupperware for lunch for the next day).

If you want more precise directions or measurements, please use the Prevention recipe above.  Let us know if you try it and how you like it!

Meatless Monday: Grilled Cheese with a Twist

While at work one day, I heard it was National Grilled Cheese Day (Yes, please!).  On my way home I stopped at the store to get some bread and cheese (I knew I already had some, but didn't want to risk coming up short).  While I thoroughly enjoyed devouring this delicious and buttery Grilled Cheese, I decided I needed to make it more exciting next time.  This is how I came up with the Grilled Cheese with Avocado, Pesto and hot sauce.  Just posting the pictures makes me want one right now!

What you will need:

- Cheddar cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- 1 Avocado
- 2 slices of bread
- Pesto
- Tapatio (or hot sauce of your choice)

Start by slicing the avocado into thin slices.

Next, butter the pan and put one slice of bread with cheese on top (get the cheese nice and melted).

While the cheese is melting prepare the other slice of bread by covering it in pesto, adding the avocado strips and several dashes of hot sauce. Put the second piece of bread on top of the melted cheese slice and flip over.

Once both sides of the bread are golden brown, take off of the stove. Let cool for a minute and chow down!

Painting of the Week: Water Hazard

This is my first painting...ever (Well, in my adult life. I'm sure there were some finger paintings done when I was a kid). One day as I was driving to work (I do my best thinking/brainstorming in the car and in the shower) I got a vision of this painting: an abstract-ish golf hole. Given that the odds of success for this painting were very low, I am pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out. My friend Cally named it "Water Hazard" - which I thought was perfect.

I recruited my aunt, who is a great artist, to have a painting day with me (I knew she would be able to help me bring my vision to life and that I would get a fun day out of it too). I drove up to her house in Santa Barbara that Saturday to get to work. We took our supplies to the beach by her house and set up camp. After five short hours, I got a sunburn and this painting.

I am lucky to come from a family that is extremely creative and artistic. I am just now tapping into my artsy side and I can't wait to see where it takes me! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the scenery I was painting in or any progress shots, but here is the final masterpiece.

Let me know what you all think!

Photo Display: Clothes Pins

I found this idea on Design Sponge while I was researching ideas for a headboard. It's a cool, inexpensive and fun way to display photos. I dig it because it allows me to see photos I love everyday that used to live in a shoe box in my closet. If you have any empty walls and aren't sure what to do with them, this is a great way to decorate and add some fun, personal touches without breaking the piggy bank.

My mom recently gave me a box full of old photos from my childhood. I was so excited and had a great time going through all of them (brought back some great memories) but then didn't have anywhere to put them.  It makes me happy that I get to see some of them everyday now - and its a lot better use than sitting in that box in the closet. I also threw some newer pictures and even my friend Jamie's save the date card (I had to use it because it was so cute) into the mix!

What you will need:

• box of old photos
• approx. 10 clothes pins (found them on Amazon)
• roll of twine (any hardwood store)
• hammer
• 2 large nails

Best part: Cost is under $10

First, get your hammer and nails. Choose your desired height (make sure to account for the length of the photos underneath) and then put each nail on either side of the wall (you can use a level to make sure they are exactly even, or measure the height of the nails from the floor up, but I just eyeballed it).

Second, you are going to measure the twine based on the distance between the two nails. You want to leave about 2 feet extra of twine when you cut it so that it is loose when tied and there is still enough twine for the bows.

Next, tie a bow with the twine around the first nail. When you tie around the second nail make sure there is some slack in the center so that the twine droops down slightly.

Once the twine is secured cut the leftover twine if there is any. I left some hanging, but only about 6 inches on each side. Attach the clothes pins onto the twine. I left plenty of space between each clothes pin so that my pictures would not touch. However, the amount of pins you use is personal preference and will also depend on the size of the wall you are using and size of the pictures/artwork you are displaying.

Finally, add your favorite pictures!

 Voila!

Please send us a picture if you try this!