S’more Madness

Did you know that August 10th is National S’more Day? Yeah, I didn’t either, but any excuse to eat chocolate is a good one in my book!

No dessert screams summertime more than s’mores. They automatically bring to mind the crackle and smell of a camp fire (and I almost start swatting away imaginary bugs).

I do get bored of the same old thing though. So I hunted around a little for new interpretations of an old classic. Here are some of the yummy treats I found (click the corresponding description below the picture for recipes!):

1 mini cups via A Wedding Story / 2 cake in a jar via How Sweet It Is/ 3 chocolate covered via Jen Loves Kev / 4 cupcakes via Ai Bake Cake / 5 cookie bars via Lovin’ From the Oven / 6 pie via The New York Times Magazine

My mouth was pretty much watering when I finished this essential “research,” so I decided I absolutely had to make some s’mores for Samantha’s post-camp snack (making one for myself too, obvi). I decided the quickest, coolest and easiest option would be the little chocolate dipped sandwiches. But I decided to do them my own way.

Ingredients:

• one graham cracker for each sandwich
• chocolate chips
• marshmallows
• olive oil
• sprinkles

Since it’s so insanely hot out, I was not about to turn on my oven. And forget about an open fire when I’m home alone with my little bean. Lord knows what trouble she’d get us into! Instead, I turned to the next best thing: my toaster oven.

I lined up the ingredients on the tray and baked them at 400°F for a few minutes—as soon as they started smelling roasty and toasty (those are technical terms), I checked on them. When I took them out, they looked like this:

The graham crackers were toasted, the chocolate chips were beginning to melt and the marshmallows were nice and browned. They smelled soooo delicious. Next step? Sandwiching them.

Not thinking (as usual) I grabbed a graham cracker with chocolate chips first and flipped it to put it on top of the marshmallow. Of course, all of my chocolate chips ended up all over the place. It would be smarter to flip the graham cracker with the single sticky ingredient that won’t fly all over the kitchen.

Once we were all sandwiched up, I put the tray in the fridge to cool.

Next up was dipping these yummies in some chocolate. Instead of using a double broiler, I put a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and threw them in the microwave for 45 seconds. If they’re not quite melted enough, keep putting them in for 30 second intervals. Just make sure you watch them carefully. You don’t want burnt chocolate!

Once they were melted enough, I stirred them until smooth (adding a little bit of olive oil to thin it out). Next, I did a combination of dipping my little sandwiches into the chocolate and spooning chocolate into any bare areas. If you’re going to add sprinkles like I did, you don’t have to worry about being all neat and tidy. The sprinkles are pretty and they hide the mess.

Pop them back in the fridge to let the chocolate cool and harden and you’re done! Yummy, toasty s’mores—without the heat.

And for the record, these tasty snacks are most definitely child approved.

It’s Officially Too Hot to Cook

I should probably start by confessing that I don’t cook too often. My husband loves to cook and I’m not particularly good at it, so he generally does the cooking. Lately, we’ve both been too hot (and grumpy) to find any dinner idea appetizing.

I mean, who wants to add heat to the house when you’re sweating just sitting in front of the TV? Not us! Too often  I’ve settled for peanut butter and jelly and he’s pulled a bag of edamame out of the freezer and eaten that. Not terrible, but not the way we’d like to be eating. We need ideas. Something other than your typical salad.

So, I did what I always do. I took to the internet to search for some yummy options that did not require me (ok, him) to turn on the stove or (god forbid!) the oven. Here’s what I found:

pressed picnic sandwiches via Crepes of Wrath

chilled cantaloupe soup via Food52

BBQ chicken sandwich via Real Simple

Southwestern salad via Real Simple

tapas plate via Real Simple

What are your go-to recipes when you can’t stand the thought of cooking?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Deliciousness

Lately I’ve been trying desperately to curb my massive sweet tooth. I’m trying to cut back on my bad habits (hey chocolate!) and pump more fruits and veggies into my diet. Still, there’s no way I can cut out sweets completely. I would totally lose it and go on a binge reminiscent of that scene in Chocolat where the Comte de Reynaud ends up curled up in the front window of the chocolate shop with his face covered in chocolatey evidence (if you haven’t seen this movie, you must. Gypsy Johnny Depp. Chocolate. French village. Need I say more?!).

Instead, I’m trying to find sinfully delicious options that trick me into thinking I’m having a terrible treat when really, they’re pretty healthy.

Enter the banana-cocoa-peanut butter smoothie my friend Janine told me about. Pinterest is full of similar ideas (I also found this one that I want to try there). What I liked about the one Janine told me about was the addition of peanut butter. If you ask me, chocolate + peanut butter = heaven.

I played around with the recipe a bit and have finally gotten it down pretty well. Here’s what you do:

• 1 frozen banana (when mine start to turn black I peel them, put them into ziplock bags and throw them in the freezer for smoothies)
• 3/4 cup of almond milk
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1/3 cup of peanut butter (I use Smucker’s Natural. It’s delicious)

Throw it all in the blender (I recommend putting the milk in before the cocoa or peanut butter to make sure everything mixes nicely) until smooth. You can either drink it immediately OR put it in the freezer for a few hours. I promise you it’s worth the wait.

If you want it a little soft and creamy (think chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Yuuuuuum!) put it in for 3 or 4 hours. If you want to try it as more of an Italian ice, leave it in overnight. If you decide it’s too hard for you, just let it sit out a bit. Honestly, you can’t go wrong. Any way that you eat this is ridiculously tasty.

Do you have any go-to recipes that trick you into thinking they’re sinfully delicious? Please share!!!

Fourth of July Party Inspiration

The Fourth of July crept up pretty quick this year. We’re having a game night at our house with some friends the night before and I’m thinking of getting all festive and nerdy with it.

Do you go all out for the Fourth? Here’s a little party inspiration if you do. If not, it’s awfully pretty to look at anyway, no?

pinwheels / straws / ice cream sandwich

sweet potato burger

kabobs

strawberry lemonade

backyard

dress / necklace / sweater / bracelets / wedges / sunglasses / head scarf

Popsicle Lovin’

To me, the start of summer always means popsicles. Nice, cool, fruity bars of deliciousness. Since my daughter has started her end-of-school-year countdown (she is equal parts elated and dramatically depressed about it), summer is breathing down my neck (in case you were wondering, there are 15 school days left after today. Eeeeep!).

So what does one do when trying to face the fact that three months of little to no productivity are heading in your direction? Why get lost in the time warp that is Pinterest, of course, and waste a little more.

Here are some particularly delicious looking popsicle recipes I came across in my travels:

1 tropical smoothie :: 2 Samoa :: 3 strawberry :: 4 strawberry shortcake
5 fresh fruit in water :: 6 Cranberry Cherry

Do you have any favorite popsicle recipes? I’m always on the hunt for a good one!

About to Pop Baby Shower

Before I even start, let me apologize in advance for the crappy photos. All of the pink that was involved in the decor for this shower cast a pretty glow, but it wasn’t exactly optimal for an inexperienced camerawoman in a rush.

I’m working on my photography skills, but I wanted to give you a little peek into the shower I put together for my sister (with crafty help and lots of ideas from my friend Janine!).

We (and by we I mean Janine) blew up balloons in different shades of pink–have I mentioned my ombre obsession?!–and hung them in my bay window with black tulle. The night before I printed out “About to Pop” on card stock and strung it up with more black tulle. We parked my sister in front when it came time to open gifts.

Continuing with the pop theme, I made a little popcorn station for favors. There was four different kinds, including plain with the option of cinnamon sugar or southwestern spice sprinkled on top.

I also made an ombre crepe paper curtain as well as black glitter bottles and pink yarn-wrapped bottles to hold flowers. All of the projects were super easy. Check back tomorrow for DIYs (and next week I’ll have a post on a failed DIY for you!).

I found a recipe for yummy pink punch on Pinterest and since I was going with a pink and black theme (can you tell she’s having a girl?), I decided it was a must. Mine didn’t come out as pink, but it was most definitely delicious. Here’s the recipe from Styleberry:

Ingredients

• two- 2 liter bottles of Sprite or 7up, cold
• 1 can of Cran-Raspberry Juice Concentrate (found in the frozen foods section by the OJ from concentrate), thawed
• raspberry sherbet (I’ll use about 1/3 of a gallon)

Preparation

1. Refrigerate 7up/Sprite & thaw juice concentrate for several hours before the party.
2. About 10 minutes before guests arrive, mix juice concentrate & 7up/Sprite. Stir.
3. Scoop sherbet into the punch bowl & watch it get foamy & pretty!

I made two types of cupcakes: the first were regular chocolate cupcakes with icing that was varying shades of pink. To do that, all you have to do is separate your icing into as many parts as shades you’re going for and add varying amounts of food coloring. I knew I wanted three shades of pink, so I split my icing into three separate bowls. In one, I just did a drop or two of red food coloring. In the next I used three or four and in the last I added about five drops.

The second type of cupcakes were chocolate cherry. My sister loved this ice cream called Chocolate Cherry Cordial that Turkey Hill used to make. It was her absolute fave. I wanted to recreate the taste a little for her, so I hunted around for a recipe and settled on this one from Sandra Lee:

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25-ounce) package butter-recipe chocolate cake mix
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups cranberry-cherry juice
• 1/2 cup cherry pie filling

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 (2 1/2-inch) muffin cups with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, butter, eggs, and cranberry-cherry juice with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down side of bowl. Beat for 2 minutes on medium. Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each prepared muffin cup. Spoon 1 teaspoon cherry pie filling on batter in each cup and top with another 1 tablespoon cupcake batter.
3. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups and cool completely on wire rack.

I wanted the frosting on these to be pink as well, but for a little added cherry oomph, I colored it with maraschino cherry juice instead of food coloring.

Don’t you hate her? She’s 33 weeks pregnant, but you can only tell from certain angles. She was wearing a really cute floral sweatery thing from Forever21. I will most definitely be borrowing it.

I wore my color-block asymmetrical keyhole dress from Old Navy for the first time. Sooooo comfy. I’m most definitely going back to Old Navy to get a few maxi dresses for summer. They have so many cute ones!

We had a great time and my sister got lots of adorable things for her little muffin in the oven. Now she can lay back and concentrate on keeping that little lady in there a little longer!

My Week Through Instagram

When I was planning Ellie’s first birthday party, I couldn’t for the life of me think of a theme. She didn’t seem particularly girlie to me, probably because she has always been very physical. Even when I was pregnant with her, I could tell she was going to be a (sweet) little beast. She’s my little bull in a china shop.

Well not long after my conundrum, Miss Elyssa started carrying purses in the crook of her elbow and piling on any accessory she can get her hands on. Looks like we have another girlie girl on our hands!

Case in point: here is a picture of my bean being super sweet. She loves to sit in the little rocking chair we have (it used to belong to my husband!) in the mornings and hug her over-sized teddy bear while she watches the crowd at the Today Show wave to her.

Give her a few hours and nap refusal and this is what you’ll get: King Kong climbing anything she can wrap her chunky little fingers around. One of her first words is “sit” because she’s heard me say it so many times (especially on that little rocking chair and in the bathtub).

On a work-related note: I was writing a menswear piece for my bridal blog the other day and I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s kind of hilarious that searching for photos of Ryan Gosling can be classified as “work.” Sigh. Someone’s gotta do it, right?

Sam’s best buddy had a birthday last week and a zumba birthday party this weekend. The kids had a blast. This is them doing the chicken dance. Even more exciting was the fact that my picky, stubborn little rosebud tried (and loved!) pizza. Yeah. She’s going to be six next month and just started eating pizza this weekend.

Here’s a sleepy Ellie watching the big kids dance around at the party. It didn’t take long for her to get a second wind, leave my feet, and start dancing around herself (with her glittery purse on her arm the whole time).

I have to gush for a second here. I am so incredibly proud of my Sams and how quickly she has picked up reading this year. She loves books and is a ridiculously good reader. She read the words “cauliflower” and “artichoke” last night, which absolutely amazed me considering the fact that a few months ago she wasn’t reading at all. Here’s a picture of her after I tucked her into bed one night this week. We had read a couple of chapters in a Bad Kitty book and she just had to stay up and read the rest.

We had a pretty low key Mother’s Day. We went to my mom’s for a (delicious) breakfast and then hung out at home for the rest of the day. We haven’t planted any flowers yet this year so Sam decided she wanted to “garden” (ie rake the pots we have on the deck, pour water into them, and then squish lots of mud between her fingers). Her sister worked her way into the mix and somehow got a big splotch of mud on Sam’s nose. Needless to say, both girls were carried directly into the bathtub when the “gardening” was done!

On Monday morning, Ellie and I went to breakfast with friends. My pal Aimee is going to be traveling all over for work for the next month, so we stuffed our faces together before she headed off to the airport. If you ever find yourself in Cold Spring, NY, you absolutely have to go to Hudson Hil’s. It’s a cute little restaurant with great food– and the most delicious muffins I’ve ever eaten! This one was an apple crumble.

You can see follow me on Instagram @atouchoflovely!

Food to Fashion

I’m hungry. How about you?

Lauren by Ralph Lauren dress / Dooney & Bourke clutch

Check out Two Peas and Their Pod for the recipe for those yummy looking Chocolate Mint Oreo cookies.

ASOS skirt / Enzo Angiolini pumps

You can get the Betty Crocker dessert pizza recipe here.

My Week Through Instagram

I’ve recently come to two conclusions: 1) I don’t take enough pictures and 2) I don’t slow down enough to enjoy the little moments.

I have so much going on and I don’t really sit back and take it all in. With my babycakes turning one this month (!) and my big girl looking and acting so old, it’s giving me another thing to panic about. I feel like I’m going to blink and they’ll be teenagers and embarrassed to be seen with me.

So this week I tried to be better about taking pictures. Random things and random moments. I’m not there yet, but I thought I’d share a little week in review with you all on Wednesdays.

So here it is!

Grilled cheese with turkey bacon, avocado and onion. Can we say delicious?!

My big girl fashionista in her thrifted zebra print dress and matching sunglasses. You can’t really tell but she’s also rocking a sock bun, a bright pink sequin purse and purple glitter boots.

Snack of the week: peanuts, wasabi peas, Cheerios and chocolate chips. I’m addicted.

Sweet cheeks is having a rough time this week with a wham bam teething/cold combo. Many a sleepless night have been had. Here she is watching Khloe and Lamar in my bed (yeah. I know).

Sleepless nights lead to yawn-filled days. Can’t stand the cuteness of this little muffin! She can barely keep her eyes open at the Dr. Seuss birthday event.

One last picture of my Ellie Bean. Here she is at Barnes and Noble pretending to read to me while her sister is at story time.

What did you do this week?

Healthy Start

After the calorie consuming marathon that is the holiday season, lots of ladies out there turn to healthier pastures come New Year’s Day–myself included. That’s why I was so intrigued when I came across this Green Smoothie recipe that Jessica from Monster Cakes guest blogged over at Eat Yourself Skinny:

1 banana + 1 apple + big handful of spinach + 1/2-1 full cucumber + 1/2 cup almond milk

I immediately decided I had to try it. I love smoothies. I love all of the ingredients in this recipe. Plus, I’m on the hunt for a new, healthy breakfast option.

I was a little skeptical of how all of these yummy ingredients would taste when combined and blended. Still, I’ve been wanting to try a green smoothie for awhile and I had all of the ingredients in the house so I went for it.

It was surprisingly delicious! I had to substitute chocolate almond milk because it’s all I had, which made me even more nervous and doubtful that this little experiment would end well.

But it was good! Sweet and smooth and very filling, which is just what I need in the morning.

I’m thinking I’m going to make this my new go-to breakfast. I may add a side of nuts and/or berries once in awhile, but you would be surprised at how full this little green monster will make you (which is good since, for some reason, come 10 am I start craving chocolate).

This is my first step towards healthier living. Stay tuned for the next one… which will come after I’ve eaten through all of the holiday sweets that are left in my cabinets!

Have you taken any steps to a healthier diet?