Hey there!  R and I got in last night from NY and as is normal for me the day after a trip, today has been a catch-up day.  We could not have had a more wonderful time.  As I spent a good amount of time at my friend's home prior to our move, it felt like coming back to a second home.  I got to meet her sweet baby girl (R was crazy about her little friend), we stayed up way too late for our own good most nights, and hit up some of my favorite old spots (and friends!).  There is something so great about visiting a good friend where the only expectation is to visit with one other.  As is normal for us when we get together, we tried a new recipe that I need to share with you all.   These zucchini fries were delicious and I was excited that I have a new way of eating zucchini (besides these turkey burgers).  I also love that there isn't a lot of prep time involved.  

Note: We sliced ours small to make them more crispy and used olive oil instead of butter.   

1 cup sliced Zuchini 

1 Tbsp. shredded Parmesan cheese

10 squirts of butter spray (we used olive oil)

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, then coat with some cooking spray. Place the zucchini slices out on the pan, then spritz with them with the butter spray/olive oil. Sprinkle on the parmesan cheese and then pop it in the oven. Broil for about 10 minutes - until the cheese and zucchini start to brown and looks crispy. 

Hello there.  Life has been exceptionally busy over here lately, in case you were wondering.  Since we returned from our Christmas trip on New Years Eve, we have been prepping for our move, entertaining friends (that I'm not ready to say goodbye to yet), made a trip to the outskirts of NYC, and most recently my sister came for a long weekend.  

~

 Normally when we have company, I worry about cooking too healthy (I want my guests to enjoy themselves), but since my sister is very health conscious I didn't have to think twice about cooking my normal recipes.  I recently discovered these turkey zucchini burgers on pinterest.   Since I like to have mini meals of protein throughout the day, these are perfect.  I think that one of the keys to eating healthy is planning ahead, so I usually make five patties at the start of the week and have them in the fridge as an easy "grab and go" protein.  I don't eat them with buns (as pictured), but as I have not been eating buns for a long time now, I don't even miss it.  

Ingredients:  

We enjoyed having my mom and brother visit this past week.  Reese got lots of quality time with her grandma and uncle, I got some naps, and I even got to try a couple new recipes.  One of them was a "healthy brownie"- it basically substituted sweet potato for flour.  It wasn't horrible, but when I asked if I should make it again, both Red and my brother said "naaaa".  Ha!  Thank goodness we have a couple favorite "healthy desserts" that I can always come back to after a flop.  This is one of those recipes for us.  Happy Fourth!

~

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 c. rolled oats

- 1 c. coconut flakes

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 1 tsp. cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp. allspice

- 1/4c. almond meal

- 1/2c. mixed nuts, finely chopped

- 1c. dried fruit 

- 3 ripe bananas, mashed

- 1/4c. veg. oil

- 1tsp. vanilla

* Preheat oven 175.  Line baking sheet w/ parchment paper.

* In a large bowl combine oats, almond meal, mixed nuts & coconut flakes.  Stir in allspice & cinnamon.  Add dried fruit & stir until evenly mixed.

* In another bowl combine oil, mashed banana, & vanilla.  Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients & stir until combined. 

* Bake 20 min. or until edges golden brown    

~

(Images and recipe from one of my favorite blogs that I've found via pinterest, Delighted Momma .  Be sure to check her out! )

I've received a number of questions/emails about the sources for items in our nursery, and thought it would be helpful to compile a list for you.  The bird "art piece" I originally made as a mobile, but it was too much with the painting, so I decided to still use it because I liked it so much.  The running joke between Red and I is that I come up with all the good ideas and then get people to do all the work for me.  That said, my mom is an amazing seamstress and helped me sew each of these little birds as well as my crib sheet (thanks mom:). 

~

~

For those of you who have asked, I found the pattern for the birds on a site that is no longer active (sorry). I'm sure you could make you own pattern fairly easily though. We stuffed them, and then I found the driftwood at our local beach.    

~

1. Crib sheet- my mom made for me....I got the fabric from this lovely shop.

2.  Triangle pillow-in the corner was from this etsy shop (one of my favorites really).

3.  Other pillows/bench- I already owned.

4.  Vintage crates- craigslist

5. Vintage dresser- craigslist

6. Painting- Caroline Wright

7. Wood Alphabet- etsy shop Bookhou

Thanks again for all your sweet comments and emails!

Last week I celebrated my last day of work with getting a much needed haircut.  I'm lucky enough to have a friend who is an amazing stylist, so she came over to my place and we made a day of it with a couple other girlfriends getting their hair done as well.  It was an overall fun girl day, and I decided to try these Coconut-Lemon Meltaways as a healthy treat.  They did not disappoint!