Italian Stuffed Pork Chops
Earlier this year I was watching Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America” and on one of the episodes they were making stuffed pork chops and discussing how it was a basic cooking idea that everyone should have mastered. I realized I’d never had a stuffed pork chop much less made one! These are absolutely amazing! The process of making them wasn’t too hard either. I did decide that the finished product was a little too full for my taste so next time I make them I’m going to fill them slightly less. I would fill them till they are just slightly bulging. If you fill them more than that the filling will leak out while cooking.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:216]Source: Adapted from Food Network
When I made these everyone was in awe of this flavor combination. I believe more than one person said they were “heavenly”, so you’re definitely going to want to try these out. I kind of made these by accident. I was going through my freezer trying to get rid of some of the things that had been there for several months and I came across blackberries and zucchini. I decided they would make the perfect combination along with a little lemon to zest it up.Instead of making cupcakes I wanted to make something a little more special. I love making Mini-Bundts and I thought this would be the perfect recipe for them. I actually have three mini-bundt pans from 
Recently I decided to try more dishes outside my comfort zone. This was definitely one of them. Alex loved it though and I think you will too! This is the perfect recipe for the hot summer nights when you don’t really want to turn on your oven. Since you put these on the grill you can easily have a great dinner without heating up your kitchen at all. This is a slightly spicy yet fantastically grilled dish. I’ve used green bell pepper, onion and mushrooms but you can use whatever veggies you prefer on your kebabs.You will need skewers for this recipe. I found a pack of 
Over the last few months I’ve been collecting the blushes from 
My personal favorite is the Peach. It is this beautiful, light, peachy-pink color that looks amazing on my light skin tone. This also is one of the best blushes I’ve found for my cheeks during the spring since it is very light.Rose is a great color when I have a little bit of tan or if I want a little more of a rosy cheek. I found that it was a little dark for me during the spring, but winter when I really want a darker cheek this is great. Copper is the shade that works least with my skintone. I find that I need to have A LOT of sun in order to pull this color off. If you have a darker skintone and darker hair it looks amazing. I used it on one of the actresses in a show recently who has a darker complexion and she looked absolutely incredible.
I love Antonym’s blushes and I really think you will too. They are made with fantastic , clean ingredients and are a true treat for your skin. I also love their sustainable bamboo packaging. Not only is it gorgeous it is very ecofriendly. I suggest you try one of these blushes if you’ve been on the lookout for another non-toxic blush. These are sure to excite!
These cupcakes were actually ordered by one of Alex’s coworkers for an event for 2nd graders. She asked me to make a white cupcake with a fun frosting color and exciting sprinkles. I decided on a plain white almond cake with a colored almond frosting since it is one of the most basic flavors in my opinion.When I cook with almond extract I always add in a little bit of vanilla. This just adds a little bit of sweet into the mixture to temper the bitter almond flavor. I do not suggest leaving this part out since plain almond desserts tend to be pretty bitter. This being said, the main flavor of this cupcake is almond. It shines through over any vanilla you add.I really loved the teal and yellow combination that I came up with. However, you can use any sort of gel food coloring you may like. When you use gel food coloring it doesn’t thin your icing like if you used a liquid food coloring. I prefer to use the Wilton brand gel food colorings since they are super easy to work with.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:212]Source: Cake adapted from: Sweet! – Editors of Food Network Magazine
I wanted something really easy to make for a meeting a couple weeks back. I didn’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen that day but I really wanted to bring something exciting to this meeting. So I looked through my archived recipes and found this exciting, classic recipe. I had even just purchased a bag of M&M baking pieces at the store recently so I was all set to make these.These were actually extremely yummy! I took the extras to rehearsal after my meeting and everyone who tried them loved them. One person even commented that they were “heavenly”. I really didn’t think since a simple and easy recipe would get such rave reviews. This is the perfect recipe for entertaining since it makes such a large batch. This summer when you have guests over for a cookout this is one recipe you should try out.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:211]Source: Adapted from Food Network Magazine: September 2015
I found a can of lychees at the grocery store a couple weeks ago and I’d read they were great to bake with so I decided it was time to try something exotic. I absolutely love a cream cheese rose frosting so I decided this was the perfect frosting for this exotic cupcake.Everyone raved over these cupcakes. They were so surprised by the use of two odd ingredients that made amazing cupcakes. I even had one person ask me how in the world I’d heard about lychees since they’re not commonly known. If you’re interested in making these cupcakes you can find the canned lychees in the oriental food section of your local grocery store.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:210]Source: Adapted from 
When I made plain chocolate cupcakes I really wasn’t sure what type of frosting I wanted to make. I eventually decided to spice the cupcakes up a bit by blending cardamom and lemon in a light buttercream. The resulting flavor combination is sweet, tart and just the perfect amount of spicy.If I had decided exactly what type of cupcakes I was going to make to begin with I would have included some cardamom in the actual cupcakes. I probably would have done a plain lemon buttercream then so as not to muddle the flavor blend too much.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:209]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss my Bundt- Chrysta Wilson
I’ve been wanting to try baking with more espresso powder and coffee since people seem to love it so much. But since I’m not really much of a coffee drinker I never know if it tastes right before I go to serve it. These though are the perfect blend of espresso, chocolate and hazelnut buttercream that really melts in your mouth.This cupcake recipe is my go-to chocolate cake recipe. It is light, fluffy and oh so delicious! When combined with some espresso powder it adds just the perfect amount of coffee flavoring to the cupcakes.The hazelnut buttercream on top is the best part about these cupcakes in my opinion. I hadn’t ever really had something with hazelnut in it that I was a fan of before this frosting. But this is one of my favorite frostings I’ve made to date. I highly suggest that you make these cupcakes just for this frosting.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:208]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss my Bundt- Chrysta Wilson
This flavor combination is divine from what I hear. I absolutely cannot stand strawberry flavor so I did not try these, but everyone who did said they were incredible. They may not be the first flavors you’d think of together but let me just tell you this definitely works.The cupcakes are light, fluffy and while they don’t actually contain any real strawberries, they use strawberry extract to achieve a full flavor. When combined with the maple cream cheese frosting it really just puts it over the top.I’ve used sliced fresh strawberries as garnish for these cupcakes. Halved strawberries, sliced strawberries or dried strawberries would all work as garnish for these though. I just really suggest using a real strawberry as garnish since there isn’t actually any in the cupcake.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:207]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss my Bundt – Chrysta Wilson
It’s not often that I forget to post something I make, but that’s what happened with this recipe. I made these for Alex’s work for his St Patrick’s day party. I actually won a prize from his office for these cupcakes, everyone absolutely raved over them. The judges did mention to Alex they thought I was “cheating” by serving them alcohol in the frosting.I started with a cupcake version of the 
Today I thought I would review The Honest Company’s 4 in 1 Laundry Packs. I’ve been using them now for several months and feel like I finally have a completely formulated opinion on this product that I’d like to share with you, my readers!If you’ve followed the blog for a while you’ll know that back when I first started the blog I posted a recipe for 
If you’re driving in a new city or area bring a dash mount for your phone GPS. This is a lifesaver when traveling in an unfamiliar area. Target has them for $5 in their dollar spot so there is pretty much no reason why you wouldn’t have one when traveling. If you’re walking rather than driving in a new area I would suggest downloading maps of the areas you’ll be walking in.Bring several extra ziplock baggies in multiple sizes. You never know when you’ll need a ziplock so a wise idea is to travel with them at all times! We actually forgot to bring extras when we went to Florida and we ended up purchasing a box while we were down there. When we were in Europe we used all of the extra ziplocks we brought with. We used them to store dirty clothes/wet clothes when we traveled. We used small snack sized ziplocks to store snacks for our daily outings and we used the quart sized ziplocks to store multiple items. I wouldn’t travel without these ever again!
Bring a reusable shopping bag. Unless you’re at an all-inclusive resort this is an item you don’t want to leave at home. When we were in Europe I saw the usefulness of traveling with one of these when we picked a bag up while traveling. I forgot to pack one when we went to Florida and I certainly regretted it! It is very useful if you need to carry a lot of items around. I would have really loved to have one on hand for when we went grocery shopping or to the beach. When we were in Europe it was really handy to have a larger bag to hold our lunch or foodstuff during the day.
I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited for summer to finally be here! I decided that in order to celebrate the official beginning of summer I needed to have a fresh, citrusy cupcake to post. These are an excellent way to celebrate summer and the beginning of warmth.I had found these 
I’ve tried several primers in my quest to find a clean beauty one that actually works. I thought I would review two of my favorites from
You can see the difference between the primers in this photo. The Mattifying primer is on the left, the Luminous is on the right. You can see how the Luminous one provides just a hint of a sheen beneath anything you’re wearing on top. The Mattifying one really just mattifies anything over it to give you a very even base.I love each of these primers, however the Mattifying primer is by far my favorite. I will continue to repurchase this item since I use it every day. I will probably not repurchase the Luminous primer since I cannot use it for most of the year. These are both excellent, clean, green beauty products that you need to try!
I love using my crockpot often to make dinner. It is a great way to have a hot dinner ready at night even when you may not have time to actually cook anything that day. This is one recipe we tend to make often since it is easy and very tasty. Basically just throw everything into a crockpot and let it cook away all day long. I love serving this with the