Hi friends! Today we're talking about nuts and balls! ;-) Everyone has their go-to favorite foods that they're constantly eating, and for me, one of those categories is nuts + nut butters. I usually eat a serving of one on the daily. Healthy fats like nuts keep my belly happy & satisfied. Almond butter and peanut butter are my all-time favorites, and I was pretty into cashews & cashew butter for awhile there. Somehow I tend to forget that I like pistachios too. Recently I was about to whip up a batch of energy balls, and instead of using my go-to nuts of choice, I decided to switch it up and break open a bag of pistachios. ... [Read More]
Archives for August 2016
DIY Time: Wine Barrel Cocktail Table Tutorial
I wouldn't necessarily call myself crafty, but here and there, I work on a DIY project that turns out pretty well. DIY success: my wine cork Christmas wreath I think that becoming a homeowner has made my hubby and me more DIY people. For instance, recently he built a new pergola for our backyard with my father-in-law... ...after our old, seemingly sturdy and very heavy pergola flipped over into our pool during some crazy winds during a rare San Diego storm: This was not fun! We've since stained the pergola, added a solar cover, and planted flowers in the hopes that their vines will start to wrap around the sides of the pergola (fingers crossed): I think that it came out pretty great! We also recently re-painted our bedroom and redid the guest bedroom/my ... [Read More]
My Annual Solo Birthday Date
Hey, hey! Tonight I'm catching the redeye to the east coast! I'm looking forward to time with my family. I haven't been home since the holidays, which is quite awhile for me. Can you tell that I'm excited? This ridiculous photo was taken a few months ago and is too funny not to share. Earlier this week, I continued a tradition that I started years ago of dedicating a day around my birthday just to treating myself to things that I love. It's what I call my "me" day to decompress and take myself on a solo date. I think that for a lot of people, life just seems too hectic to feel like there's time to practice self-love as much as we should - or worse, maybe we don't feel deserving of it. I think it's really important to take time here and there to slow down, appreciate life, ... [Read More]
Portobello Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto [vegan + gluten free]
One great thing about having a food blog is that when I want to look up a favorite recipe or get meal planning inspiration, I often can just look it up on my blog (+ lots of my favorite food blogs!). I tend to put recipes that I constantly make on the blog. After all, this is a place where I share my passion of cooking and baking with all of you lovely people. Every now and then, I realize that there's a longtime favorite meal that I've never posted on here. This happened recently when my husband requested asparagus & mushroom risotto for dinner... and when I tried to look up the recipe, I realized it was yet to be shared. I first started making asparagus & portobello mushroom risotto when I found it in the Skinny Bitch cookbook probably a good 5 years ago. At the time ... [Read More]
The Solana Beach Triathlon + A Very Special Birthday {Weekend Recap}
Hi friends! How was your weekend? Mine was a special one because my husband turned 30! Since I had surprised him with an early birthday trip to Mexico in June, his actual birthday was pretty low-key. A had signed up for a triathlon sprint in the beach town of Solana Beach with a friend of his, so his birthday morning started off with a very early alarm. The Solana Beach triathlon consists of a 1/4 mile Pacific Ocean swim + 9 mile bike ride + 3 mile run. The event benefitted the Challenged Athletes Foundation: Operation Rebound, which is a program for American military personnel, veterans and first responders with physical challenges. It was a pretty fitting cause for my former Marine to support! A has really gotten into cycling lately, and has been in serious beast ... [Read More]