I like to think that I get my love of cooking from my great-grandmother. She was the greatest cook in the whole wide world, no body made a better pie than her. Unfortunately cooking is one area where my creativity hardly ever leads me to a good place. So a recipe follower, I am! In the vast array of blogs that I follow some of my favorites to catch up on are the food blogs I follow. One of my favorite food blogs is Dashing Dish, her motto is “healthy alternatives for the food your crave,” and they’re all equally fantastic. Here are some of my favorite recipes of hers for breakfast and lunch.
Single Serve Monkey Bread – these are absolutely delicious, like borderline addicting, delicious. I’ve learned through many batches that the key to getting them to stick together when they come out of the pan is the extra syrup on top.
Asian Chicken Salad – I love this salad! I love that lettuce isn’t the main base, keeping each bite different and interesting.
Easy Cheesy Burritos – This is one of my all time favorite recipes! I make a double batch every couple of weeks and freeze them for my lunches! I differ the recipe a little using shredded mexican cheese and I’ve found that it works best to throw the beans and tomato paste in my food processer to get it nice at smooth. I also just line them all up on a baking sheet and bake them for a few minutes to melt the cheese instead of microwaving them. Trust me, you wont be disappointed.
What are some of your favorite food blogs and recipes?
Happy Cooking,
Jennifer
All photos belong to Dashing Dish and are used with permission.
We interrupt your weekly program of Five Things Monday for this very special Edition of Ten Things Monday. Sometimes you just need a good laugh, so today I hope to provide you with none other than just that. Whether you just chuckle or fall on the floor laughing, I hope one of these “Things” brings you at least a little joy on this Monday.
1. FRIENDS is my all time favorite show. I’ve seen every episode, at least 10 times. Here are some of my favorite moments:
2. If you’re not watching New Girl, you need to start – RIGHT NOW! So freaking funny! Zooey Deschanel is perfect it in and Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield and Lamorne Morris are comedic gold as her roommates. My roommate Hannah and I have seriously considered getting a bigger place just so we could have some guy roommates move in. Full episodes can viewed at the Fox website and Hulu. Below is one of my favorite parts from the pilot:
3. Psych is one of those shows that makes me wish I had cable, but thank GOD for Hulu. Seriously, Jesus himself came up with Hulu, I’m convinced of it.
4. I’m not a big watcher of The Office (I know, I know, you can start throwing stones at any time…) but this meme always cracks me up.
5. If you know me you know I love Harry Potter, if you don’t, hey, I love Harry Potter! So naturally the following images just crack me up.
If you don’t understand the “What the Hell is a Hufflepuff” image it’s because you’ve probably never watched Starkid‘s A Very Potter Musical or A Very Potter Sequel, and if you haven’t then you should watch those right when you’re finished watching New Girl. If you’re a Glee fan you will be delighted to discover that Darren Criss himself plays Harry and wrote the music for them.
I adore Daniel Radcliffe’s sense of humor, as shown in the image with him and Michael Gambon at the bottom. Enjoy.
6. I could watch Tangled every.single.day. I absolutely love it! Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore are absolutely fantastic in it. Last time I checked you could watch it on Netflix, don’t hurt me if this isn’t true anymore; it’s worth buying either way.
7. Who doesn’t love Baby Mama? Seriously, if you haven’t watched this either add it to the list. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are the perfect duo.
8. Another little fun fact about me is that I LOVE Mark Wahlberg, probably borderline an unhealthy amount. This is one of my favorite Marky Mark moments, as seen in The Other Guys.
9. Just incase I haven’t already convinced you that you need to watch New Girl here are a couple of hilarious clips. Also, I would really like to know how to play True American, because it seems like a riot. (source)
10. Who doesn’t love Ellen DeGeneres? The stuff she pulls on her show cracks me up. Here are two of my favorite recent show clips. (source)
What inspires you when you have a case of the Mondays?
Happy creating,
Jennifer
(p.s. shhhhhhh I know that technically this is twelve things but I just couldn’t decided between the New Girl and Ellen clips.)
I love my iPad and iPhone, how could I not? Of course, I have a slew of apps that I use on a daily basis, so I thought I would take some time to show you 5 of my favorite apps. Click on any of the images to enlarge them.
1. Bamboo Paper is a great app for drawing. The background provides a nice grid, there is a variety of colors to choose from and you can even email and print your drawings or notes. I only have the free version but if you use it a ton I can imagine that the full version would be super useful. If you plan on doing a lot of drawing or writing with you iPad I would suggest buying a stylus, there are lots of good ones out there. Click here to download Bamboo Paper.
2. Flipboard is probably my proudest find. It’s really well done and is a great one stop shop for all my news. It integrates your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Linkedin, Tumblr etc, etc. as well as allows you to follow all sorts of other collections like CNN, FFFFound and other more general topics like “Crafts” and “Technology” It really is a great app. The layout is fantastic and you actually “flip” the pages. Click here to download Flipboard, it’s FREE!
3. Padmapper is an app that one of my colleagues directed to me and it has been a lifesaver in the current apartment search I’m on! It pulls data from all sorts of listings, such as craigslist, and maps them out for you. You can zoom in and out and redo your search area as much as you would like. It also allows you to fill out different filters, such as price, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. The pins change color as you view and favorite them. Once you select a pin a pop up window shows with basic information and pictures and then allows you to visit the original listing as well. It’s quite fantastic for pinpointing a certain area and not having to dig through all those crazy Craigslist links. Click here to download Padmapper, it’s FREE!
4. Show of Hands is a fun and fascinating app. When you first open it, it will have you submit some basic data about yourself. Then you can proceed to answer all sorts of questions, and see the results! Results are split up by state and you can select different states to see how the results change. You can also filter the data by political party, age and income. Some of the questions are funny and some a serious, it’s always interesting to try and guess what the outcome will be and then see the real outcome. Click here to download Show of Hands, it’s FREE.
5. Teuxdeux is a fantastic to-do application. Created by none other than swissmiss herself, it’s wonderfully simplistic and user friendly. You just add your to-dos to the appropriate day and then cross them off when you’re done. My favorite part is that anything that doesn’t get completed one day automatically moves to the next day. There is also a “Someday” section for those things you want to get done but aren’t time sensitive. TeuxDeux is originally a website which is a big plus for me. I love being able to look at my to-do list whether I’m in front of my phone, iPad or computer. While they do not have an iPad app currently, you can, of course, use the iPhone version on your iPad. To learn more about TeuxDeux and to sign up – GO HERE, to download the app – CLICK HERE. The app is $2.99 but you won’t regret it one bit.
What inspires you when you have a case of the Mondays?
Happy creating,
Jennifer
People are freaking smart. I feel like I have a “Why didn’t I think of that” moment daily. Here are some of my favorite products I wish I had thought of.
1. Cutting board and strainer all-in-one! Genius! (buy one here)
2. We’ve all been there. You’re at a party, you’ve got your drink and your plate of food, but there’s no where to sit? What do you do now? Most of us would have to attempt that awkward balance of trying to hold your drink and plate in one hand. Not these people though, because they have this awesome creation… (source)
3. I HATE bringing in groceries. As a kid I would line my arms with grocery bags to the point where it was difficult to walk just to try and get all the bags in the house in one trip. While this may be an incredibly funny site to watch, The One-Trip-Grocery-Holder is a way better idea and a steal for only $5 if you ask me! (buy one here)
4. Why I haven’t purchased one of these yet baffles me. Think of all the glasses the “Tapi” can save! No need for one in the bathroom for post-brushing teeth use, no need for a glass to take medicine quick, no need for a glass when you’re just a little thirsty, or for quick mouth rinsing when you eat something too hot or too gross! People of Dreamfarm – HIGH FIVE!. (buy one here)
5. I’ve almost hit the purchase button on one of these bad boys so many times, one of these days I’ll finally commit. I just love it! So much better than writing your name in all of your books, and way more fun! (buy one here)
What inspires you when you have a case of the Mondays?
Happy creating,
Jennifer
While I will be the first to admit that I am not the ‘girliest’ (did I just make up a word?) person in the world, I really do love fashion. I do believe it to be an art form, all the different styles, colors, fabrics, shapes, sizes, etc. It’s just a never ending pool of creativity and options.
1. What don’t I love about this dress? Nothing. I love the color, the top, and the fact that it appears to have pockets(!!!). Now if only I had an event fancy enough to wear it to. (source)
2. This anthropology dress is adorable, and perfect for summer! If only it wasn’t unavailable… (source)
3. Man, if I could afford this dress I would wear it every day! Which is why I shouldn’t buy it because then I would feel obligated to wear it everyday because I spent so much on it and I would end up living in some painful world like Monica and her boots. (source)
4. I was stunned when I found out that this scalloped dress is actually a DIY – adding it to my list of things to-do PRONTO. (source)
5. How fun is this dress? I’m not a huge fan of black and orange together, so I kind of wish it was still in a different color combo, but I still love it. (source)
All of these images can also be found on my Pinterst Board – Fashion.
What inspires you when you have a case of the Mondays?
Happy creating,
Jennifer
Day 5 was a short one for us. We woke up really early to drive back to Denver, so early in fact that we got to watch the sunrise.
I ate french toast in the car as I drove because we didn’t get our car loaded and checked out fast enough to eat a proper breakfast with tables and utensils.
We arrived at the Denver Children’s Hospital to visit Hannah’s doctors from when she was a kid. When she was 2 years old she had a liver transplant and this year is her 20 year anniversary of said magnificent event.
It was so cool to get to see her doctors, they even included her in a medical study! So awesome!
This was the poster outsider of one of their offices, it was so cool! Naturally the graphic designers in us loved it and I just had to take a picture.
After visiting with her doctors we grabbed some lunch, killed some time at a nearby Target and then headed to the airport to return our rental car and wait for our flight home. It was a fantastic trip and I would go back to Colorado in a heart beat. It was absolutely beautiful and there was so much to do!
Happy Traveling,
Jennifer
To view more pictures from our trip - go here. To read about our other adventures visit - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.
Day 4, my favorite day of the whole entire trip. Why you ask? Because we went to the Olympic Training Center, of course!
We arrived with enough time to go to the gift shop, where I loaded up on USA goods, including a Team USA Wrestling shirt! Woot Woot! We even got the chance to sit in a bobsled and compare our wing spans to Michael Phelps’ in the Visitor Center before heading out on our tour.
Along the tour path they have a flag for all the countries involved in the Olympics and displays for all of the Olympic Sports. Naturally we had to take pictures next to our favorite sports, Hockey for Hannah, Wrestling for Me.
We got to go in most of the buildings including the training center, the gyms, shooting range, weightlifting areas and then…the greatest moment of my life. We entered the wrestling room, and I could have died I was so happy! It’s a good thing the mens team wasn’t training or I may have just totally lost it. It was cool to watch the girls team train though. I wish I could have stayed there for hours, alas the tour continued on. The last place we went by was the pool, it was pretty cool to see. There was a women’s team training there as well.
In the Visitor Center they have the three different torches displayed from the US Olympic Games. It was very cool to see. A friend of mine from High School actually got to run with the Salt Lake City torch.
After our tour finished we darted over the the Pikes Peak Cog Railway for which we had Noon tickets for. It took about an hour to ride the train all the way up to the summit, where it was 20 degrees. Once at the top we took tons of pictures, it was BEAUTIFUL. I could hardly believe just how far you could see. We grabbed some lunch at the “restaurant” at the summit and proceeded to shop the gift store, again, of course.
Afterwards we headed back into Manitou to visit the shops that closed before we got to them the day before and eat some fantastic mexican food at, The Loop. Hannah had some good ol’ tacos and I had an authentic Mexican Burrito stuffed with veggies; both were absolutely fantastic.
After dinner and shopping we headed back to our hotel where we had a lot of packing a head of us. Our hotel room was a nightmare while we were attempting to pack everything we bought. We both bought way more than we intended to so it was quite interesting but we managed to make it work!
Happy Traveling,
Jennifer
To view more pictures from our trip - go here. To read about our other adventures visit - Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.
I cannot wait to own my own home. I have been dreaming about that day for so long now. I am always inspired by what people do with there homes, it’s amazing what people can create when they make it “their’s”.
1. My absolutely dream is to own a victorian style home… (source)
2. …but I would love for it to have a modern interior. (source)
3. How fantastic is this bathroom? I don’t think I would ever leave it. This is how all tubs should be adorned. (source)
4. I need this pantry!. I love it, so organized. I would love to have all my dry goods in one space instead of having to open up tons of different cupboards. (source)
5. There are so many different ways to display and store jewelry, and for me this is in an important one, I have quite the collection. I love the idea of this, especially since it has the doors you could close preventing anything from getting messed up by children (if you have them, which I don’t) or snoopers. (source)
All of these images can always be found on my Pinterest Board - Home
What inspires you when you have a case of the Mondays?
Happy creating,
Jennifer
On day three of our trip we ventured onto the Air Force Academy and went EVERYWHERE. That’s not even an understatement either, we literally went to every part of the base. Hannah’s dad was an Air Force pilot so she has a military ID which allowed us to get into anywhere we wanted to without being searched. It was kind of spooky, especially when we pulled up on a check point and a man with an automatic weapon stopped us. Not something I’ve ever experienced before, it was crazy. First we stopped at the gift shop (naturally) and then walked over to the chapel. We explored the Chapel and surrounding area, unfortunately the AFA was on Spring Break so we didn’t get to see anything cool.
The stained glass makes the interior of the chapel so magical and beautiful; and check out that organ – AMAZING!
After visiting the chapel we hoped back in the car and drove to the next location on the tour map. It was an awesome over look of the school, pardon my crazy hair, it was SO windy out! So windy in fact that we had trouble walking without getting blow around.
After the lookout we stopped by the football field. Hannah was timid to approach, unsure of whether or not we were allowed. I ventured confidently, deciding that if we do get in trouble we can just flash her id, tell them how her dad and my uncle both attended the academy, fake cry a little, and if none of that worked and we got arrested – hey! At least I would know what it would be like to get arrested on a military base, right? (My mom would not appreciate this…) Alas we did NOT get arrested and were even met by a father with his two daughters down on the field. He gladly took our picture and then Hannah attempted to do a cartwheel on the field.
Next we stopped by the sports center and were able to find Hannah’s, Dad’s hockey team picture, so cool. We wandered around there and then it was time to head out, we HAD been at the AFA for 4+ hours at this point.
By the time we finally left the Academy we were starving, as we had missed lunch in our excursion around the base. We wandered into downtown Manitou, a fabulous small town area, and ended up at PJs Bistro. Let me tell you the food was AMAZING. My favorite meal of the whole trip, hands down. It ended up being a polish restaurant and our waiter was excellent in recommending dishes for us. Hannah had the Hungarian goulash with potato pancakes and I had the Perogies. SO GOOD. I wish I could go back, just for this meal.
After eating we went shopping in the area and the headed back to our hotel, totally worn out again from our adventures.
Happy Traveling,
Jennifer
To view more pictures from our trip – go here. To read about our other adventures visit – Day 1 and Day 2.
