It's officially Memorial Day weekend! I hope that all of you reading this who are living in the states have lots of fun plans for your [hopefully long] weekend. I am super excited for the next couple of days. In the morning Adam and I are heading up to Napa for the weekend! It is a much needed mini vacay for us, and will definitely be involving some of our favorite things - wine, hiking, food, and time together! I have the perfect recipe to share today for those of you looking for a fancy, healthy breakfast recipe to try out over this holiday weekend: A couple of days ago, I realized that I hadn't used my waffle maker in quite awhile. Obviously this realization called for my whipping up of a new waffle recipe ASAP. I mixed ingredients up as I went along, which can either turn out really ... [Read More]
strawberries
Dark Chocolate Drizzled Strawberry Cheesecake Graham Cracker Mini Pies
Happy Easter! Hope that everyone had a great weekend and holiday. Boy, do I have a fun dessert recipe to share with you all... One of the best parts about California living for a foodie like myself is all of the local produce that's available. As you may recall, living in San Diego I frequently talked abut weekend Little Italy farmers' market trips. And now, living in a small town outside of San Jose, little farm stands are plentiful. I'm obviously loving it! The idea of a dessert featuring strawberries first entered my mind upon spotting cartons of the fruit at a market last week. Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, and I can almost never resist getting them. My original thought was to do parfait cups with a cream cheese dip, drizzled chocolate, and graham cracker crumbs, but ... [Read More]
Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
"All I am I owe to my mother." - George Washington Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there, especially my mama! Sometimes I get bummed on holidays, knowing my family is all getting together thousands of miles away, especially when my hubby is even thousands of miles farther away. With 2/3 of this deployment under my belt, I'm starting to feel like I just want him to be home already. Everyone is different, but it seems that with me, there comes a certain time when I just start to think enough is enough! Case in point: A.) I just love love, but when I see couples big on PDA these days, I have the sudden urge to throw things at them. B.) In a daze, I stared outside at my patio last night, imagining I was sitting out there with Adam drinking wine and relaxing together. And ... [Read More]
Strawberry Watermelon Smoothie
When I blogged about my favorite eats & drinks on my recent vacation to Thailand, I gushed about all the fresh fruit I ate. My favorites were watermelon and pineapple, both of which are so refreshing on a hot day (which I needed since it was 100 and humid there!). The only thing more thirst-quenching than plain old fruit is a fruit smoothie, which I also had in abundance on my vacay. My favorite flavor was watermelon. They tasted simple and delicious, like there weren't added sugars or anything else. I made a mental note to try making a watermelon smoothie in the near future when I was home, and today, I did just that. This 3-ingredient smoothie is my new favorite ridiculously easy thing to make! I love that it's fitting as a small meal (it was my breakfast this AM), snack, or ... [Read More]
Ballet Boot Camp + Strawberry Arugula Salad
Happy Hump Day! This evening I volunteered at the Humane Society and got to play with puppies like this cutie: Because I had a full day of work to do and knew I wanted to make it to volunteering, I squeezed in a workout at home today. I've been wanting to try a barre workout, and I keep seeing The Barre Method studios popping up around here, but I just haven't made it to a class yet. Today I tried a Ballet Boot Camp Challenge workout I found in Prevention magazine. The article claims the workout is so effective because: "It strengthens your deepest belly muscles, pulling in your waist like a corset, while lifting your butt, trimming your thighs, and toning your arms. It also whips into shape your perfect-posture muscles, so you'll strand straighter after a single session." Sounds ... [Read More]
Super Bowl Fun
This morning I woke up feeling excited like a little kid on Christmas. (Ok, feeling like I still feel waking up on Christmas as a grown adult..) Because today is the SUPER BOWL! I'm going over to my friend Tiffany's place to watch the game and made a few snacks to bring with me: ...the homemade hummus pictured that I whipped up a bit ago. You can't tell from the picture, as hummus is not very visually pleasing, but I assure you this recipe is simple and delicious! I'm bringing celery, carrots, pretzel thins, and crackers to dip into it. ....And cheesecake stuffed strawberries! My friend Angi sent me this recipe recently and I figured the Super Bowl is the perfect occasion to try it out. I'm in a bit of a rush to walk Harley and head to Tiffany's for the game, but I will be ... [Read More]