Juice cleanse

Read about this juice cleanse on my new favorite blog The Skinny Confidential.

Today was day one and the juice was not so delish but I got through day 1. Only 2 days to go...

The best part is that you get to eat a 6oz. lean protein/veggie dinner.

Here are some pics of day 1 ingredients and juice.

Old favorite/New favorite: Oreo cookies

Yum! I love oreo cookies! So when I saw this recipe for delicious, homemade oreos, I could not resist trying. These guys are super easy to make and turn out so delicous. It is a bit scary when you make them to realize how absolutely horrible oreo cookies are for you, but other than those few moments of panic when you read the recipe and go "more butter...really?", you'll love them.

Check out the Smitten Kitchen recipe!

Happy Anniversa-brie and fun dog pics

So as you may know, it was our anniversary last weekend. Since we went leafing on Saturday and brunching on Sunday, we decided to stay in on Monday (our actual anniversary) and eat a yummy home cooked meal. We had, my favorite appetizer, baked brie to start. Salmon and twice-baked potatoes and some yummy chocolate fondue for dessert.

Baked brie is so delish and it's super, super easy to make. You really almost feel guilty for the lack of work you put into it. I didn't follow a recipe this time around, but basically all you do is this:
You'll need
-Puff pastry sheets (found in freezer section by pie shells)
-A circle of brie
-Egg
-Whatever veggies, fruits, or bread/crackers you want to use to serve it
1) Let one frozen puff pastry sheet thaw. While you wait, preheat oven to 400.
2) Take the the puff pastry sheet and wrap it around the brie, trimming off and saving any excess. Be sure to pinch the edges shut.
Optional step) Take a cookie cutter and use excess pastry to put a star, heart or other shape on top.
3) Beat the egg and mix with water to form egg wash. Brush egg wash over surface of pastry-wrapped brie.
4) Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
5) Serve with raw veggies, fruit and bread or crackers.

Enjoy!!!

Oh and as a fun bonus. Here are some silly/adorable pictures of those sweet pups of ours :-)



Finally...coming soon (like this week) a super easy, DIY version of the Lady Gaga Grammy that you can make just in time for Halloween!

Measuring cup free cooking

Check out this cool new website Food 2! I love looking at recipes. I don't so much go by the recipe in a really strict manner while I'm cooking. I'm more the type of person that looks at several recipes and combines them for a fun (almost always delicious) surprise. One of my favorite recipe websites has had this ad up for the past several days for the Food 2 website. I usually don't click on ads but after seeing the picture of the doughnut burger they had in their advertisement for several days, I had to check it out. Has anyone ever had one of these? I saw that it's like a 1500 calorie burger, how deliciously gross!

This isn't the exact photo but how can you not click on a link when you see this?

One of the first entries I saw when I clicked on the link was this article about how to hand measure ingredients so that you're not a slave to measuring cups and spoons. I see cooks do this all the time on Food Network so it was great to have some tips about how to hand measure ingredients. Anyway I thought it was super cool and definitely worth sharing...happy cooking!!!

Easter basket sugar cookies

In case you can't tell, I absolutely adore Easter and all that comes with it. Not only is it an important day for me as a Christain but it also has always been an important day of family, fun and of course food!

This is a cute, little kitchen craft that I read about in my email this morning and I just had to share. Easter baskets made out of sugar cookies...how cool!


To get the directions just go to the Betty Crocker website. Also if you are gluten free like some of the folks in my family, don't count yourself out. I found a great recipe for gluten free sugar cookies by searching the web. My biggest suggestion is to check the recipe ratings and read the reviews. Betty crocker does have a number of gluten free dessert boxes but unfotunately they haven't gotten to sugar cookies yet.

Christmas is near!

So Beau and I will be heading down to Griffin tomorrow so this is our last pre-Christmas night at home. To celebrate I made brie en croute...yum!!! I love nights where we just eat fruit and cheese. It feels so European. I used to do this all the time when I was single; get a yummy cheese and some delicious fruits and make a meal of it. Beau thought I was crazy at first but now he's growing fond of the idea, though he prefers that there be at least a sausage or meat of some sort.

Here are a couple pictures of our Christmas tree and dear ole Frankie poo finally getting excited about the holiday now that there are some smelly dog treats wrapped and under the tree.



Merry Christmas everyone!

"I carried a watermelon..."

Hmmm...I thought I published this to the blog a few days ago. So the timing is a bit off.


Do you remember that amazing line from Dirty Dancing? Yesterday "I carried a watermelon" all around the farmer's market because I knew if I didn't buy it right then and there I would forget to get one.

I also picked up a yummy cantaloupe at the market. I cut it up as soon as I got home and went to work (well not that much work really) pureeing it so that I could use it in a sorbet. I found a couple recipes, one on Recipezaar and one on Cupcake Muffin, that I used to get the measurements accurate and into the ice cream maker it went!

As soon as it got finished churning I had to sample it and it was delish. Light and fresh, it was a great addition to the cook-out we went to last night to celebrate the anniversary of two of our favorite people: Stephen and Christie. In fact none of the sorbet even made it home.

Side note:Cupcake Muffin's recipe makes an optional call for white wine which I didn't try but it sounds interesting. Let me know if you try it!

One more stop I made on the way home from the farmer's market was off to the local fabric store for some fabric. I found the cutest blues and greens. These guys (which I hope you can see in the fruit pictures) are going to turn in to a snazzy apron later this week. I can't wait...those monkeys are adorable!