Tuesday Tidbits

Happy Summer, everyone!  It's been an exciting month in our lives - a little travel, a lot of relocation and, of course, plenty of goodies to dish about!  

Fishing villages of Klima on the island of Milos, Greece

Justin's Stuffed Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Or we could also call them: "it's a mess but so delicious."

The Cost of Making Homemade Almond Milk

I have to admit, the engineer in me is coming out in this recipe.

March Stitch Fix Order

Yay for new cute and comfy clothes!!

So I know I just shared a Stitch Fix post somewhat recently, but I'm working on some yummy things that aren't quite perfected yet. I'll make you wait another week for that, today is about the clothes!

A Home in the Making: Colored Doors Tips and Tricks

I live in a new house, but we're making changes to make it feel like a home. When we moved into the house, the walls were tan and the doors were all white. This, along with the fact that I'm fairly monochromatic, made our open floor plan kitchen/dining/living area a little bland. And since our ceilings on the main floor are about 20 feet high, we decided that the best option would be to leave the walls as is (ain't nobody got time for that!) and paint the doors black. Yes, black!

January Stitch Fix Order

It's been a while since I've shared my Stitch Fix orders, and I received my first one of 2016 last week. I've had mixed success in my past orders, some where I kept everything, and some where I've kept nothing. Let's get into this one!

Cali Trip Recap: The Hills are Alive with the Sound of WINE

Y’all. I’ve found my spirit city- it’s like a spirit animal but with buildings and fields and wine! Wine!! Sonoma, California I’d like to call dibs on you.

Sauvignon Blanc at Arrowood 

Over Thanksgiving, Bryan and I took a trip to Cali to check out Napa and Sonoma, travel down Highway 1, and visit San Francisco. It was epiccc. 

Exploring Eatfitters: Quick and Easy Healthy Meals

Eatfitters provided me a days worth of meals to write this post. I was not compensated for my time, and my opinions are completely my own. 

I'm used to the 5 meals a day concept. You see, I'm a snacker. I love just a little bit of a snack mid morning, mid afternoon, right as I get home, and after dinner. I try and minimize all of these snacks, but for me, the 5 meal a day concept works well. So when Eatfitters approached me about trying a day's worth of their food (3 meals and 2 snacks), I was pretty excited.

Monday Morning Perk Up

Mondays are hard. Let's start the week off on a sunny note with some fun favorites!

Food We've Been Loving:
Renee: I've been meal prepping most of our food on Sundays lately. It's great since work has been so crazy. My recent favorites?

• I prepped this crockpot beef stew when I had a friend coming over for dinner. She brought poppyseed bread that we didn't dip into the stew, but was a great side to this dish! Plus leftovers are a big thumbs up.
• These banana chia seed muffins will make all the dense muffin lovers super happy :)
• I can't get over how indulgently amazing these funfetti buttercreams look! I haven't made them yet, but they'd be the perfect party dessert! 

Lauren: I have not been practicing the fine art of meal prepping lately, but I have found a few winners when I've taken the time to get into the kitchen.  

• Like this Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Kale.  Would i get sick of it if I had it for dinner every night this week?   Maybe, but I'd be willing to take that chance!  It's so delicious and easier to make than you'd think.  Bonus: the leftovers heat up great for lunch the next day!
•  Fluffernutter Rice Krispie Treats.  In the infamous words of Ina: how bad could that be? These sold out fast at a work bake sale - and the few extras I kept at home didn't stick around too long either.

Garlic and Rosemary Artichoke Balls Appetizer Recipe

Don't you just love appetizers? Chips and dips, fried vegetables, breads and cheeses, and small bites! They're all so wonderful!

Wouldn't you be happy with just ordering a few apps at a restaurant and then going straight to dessert? Is that just me? Clearly I have a major app love. Do you? Even if you don't, these garlicky artichoke balls make a perfect side dish for dinner, topped on salads, or just as a quick snack. Hot or cold, they work both ways! I can attest to all options.

Ace of Taste Savory & Sweet Birthday Celebration!

Well folks, I'm officially not in my early 20's anymore! I turned 25 last Friday!  Does this mean I'm a grown up now? Can I still call my mom to have her explain insurance to me, or have cookie dough for dinner? I'm going to say yes...

Moving on- I celebrated my birthday with a great weekend! Bryan and I went to an Ace of Taste dinner, which I've been dying to go to since I started following them on Instagram a few months ago. Ace of Taste does pop up dinners throughout Houston with experienced and emerging chefs, and this dinner's theme was Sweet + Savory! Every course had a dessert! Umm, hello- totally the perfect way to spend a birthday! I feel like I've been training my whole life for this moment.

A Home in the Making: A Space for Drinks!

Something I never expected about moving into a house that you can actually renovate is how quickly time flies! We've been in our new house over 7 months!

Besides reminding me that I desperately need to: 1) hang pictures 2) buy some furniture and 3) maybe decide on some paint colors, this intro was supposed to segue into the fact that I'm going to be putting some of our house projects on here! Though it was a new build, there's still plenty of projects that we've come up with to make the house feel more like a home.

Our latest project has been building a bar in our dining room area. We're not done yet, but I figured I'd catch you all up to speed. Here's the house as we saw it before we bought it (so yes, all this furniture is staging).

Foodie Fun: Salsa with Avocado!

Like Lauren said in her guacamole post, we've GOT to have a few avocado recipes added in here! And it just so happens that Lauren's guac pairs wonderfully with this salsa recipe. Now I wouldn't exactly say that two girls raised in South Louisiana are the experts on salsa recipes, but since moving to Texas a year and a half ago, I've been on the hunt for great salsa!

Luckily, I didn't have to look further than my own home. Turns out, my boyfriend's grandmother has an AMAZING salsa recipe that he's perfected over the last few years. His grandfather was from Mexico, so it's got to be legit, right??

We've vetted this recipe with all kinds of people. It's our go-to "what to bring" for pool parties, house hang outs, or just when we want snack at the house. Everyone loves it. I honestly can't even say how long it'll keep because we've only had leftovers like once... It's THAT good.

Renee's Stitch Fix Order #1 Review

Since entering the working world about a year and a half ago, I’ve noticed that I’m shopping less. Or clothes shopping at least. My trips to Lowe’s and Home Depot have risen significantly, but trips to the outlets and mother-daughter/sister-sister/best friend shopping trips have dropped off. There’s just always so many things to do over the weekend! So that’s why I’ve taken the plunge and signed up for Stitch Fix.