recommendation: salt & peppa. pistachios that is.

Time to get a bit nutty. When you are looking for a fun snack, turn to pistachios and more specifically, SALT & PEPPER pistachios. They are awesome. They are in the shells still, so I thought, how much flavor can get in there? But its just enough. And really, it only helps that they are in shells - it makes you work for your food and slows you down just enough so that you can't take handfuls at a time (is that not a dream? when you are eating pistachios, don't you ALWAYS think... how amazing would it be to just have a handful of pistachios?).

Once you open a bag of pistachios, they normally keep good for quite a while as long as you seal it properly (they'll get stale if exposed to air too long, they absorb moisture). So its a good thing to keep in the house for snacking or to set out for guests. I buy Wonderful Pistachio, but Everybody's Nuts! also makes flavored nuts (I want to try chili & lime!!). There have been coupons for both brands in the newspaper inserts lately, so be on the lookout.

If you need more convincing then my recommendation, let me mention that one serving, which is - get this - 49 nuts (insane!), contains 160 calories, 14 grams of fat, has no added oil, and naturally provides a few great things like Vitamin B6, copper and manganese. Ok, fine, I don't know what manganese is either - just look at this nifty nut comparison chart instead!

p.s. I'm on the lookout for a bowl like this one, the Eva Solo Smiley Bowl, - I saw this in a holiday gift guide. I don't want to spend so much but love the functionality of it!

recommendation: WF breakfast!

A lot of times the things I like to recommend are ideas and items that others have recommended to me (word of mouth is the best kind of recommendation!!). This recommendation was donated to me by my hubby and sister in law, guest recommenders for today's blog post!!

Did you know that whole foods has a breakfast buffet in the a.m.?! I had no idea! I guess I never really paid attention to this but the sign on the Hot Bar says 8am - 8pm... Well they kept raving about it so I finally decided that I should probably check it out. They are both food lovers so I knew I could trust them. Here is what they had to say:

Per Hannah - "Delicious, Awesome. I'd eat there everyday if I could."
Per Zachary - "The perfect way to start a day for only $1.99."

I didn't think that one taco would be enough but I didn't want to start my day off full of gluttony so I decided to listen to my hubby and pick up one and a medium coffee. It was filling enough for a normal day and so satisfying!

They switch up what is on the hot bar each day - when we were there there were tacos (bacon/cheese/egg, or chirizo/potato/egg) for $1.99 each, and burritos for $3.99 each. Luckily (or maybe not so lucky for our checkbook), we have a Whole Foods super close by, so my hubby ran over this a.m. to pick up breakfast - on today's menu were whole wheat sausage/egg/cheese tacos (again, for $1.99 each), and bacon/potato/cheese/egg burritos for $3.99. We decided to try one of each - I've never had a taco with a whole wheat tortilla before - it was delish! Both have pico on them already but I like extra sauce so added a little Taco Bell Sauce (I picked mine up at Busch's, Meijer has it too but don't always have mild and hot... and don't act like you don't stuff your pockets with extra sauces when you make a run to the border...betcha didn't know they sell the sauce in stores so now you don't have to!!).

This is a relatively cheap meal (considering its Whole Foods). Check it out and have a fun start to your morning!

recommendation: quick crochet project

Sunday, late afternoon. Cozy fire ablaze, sun shining through the window with light snow on the ground. Hangover almost gone, full tummy of snacks and sudden burst of energy. I've been dying to try to make an infinity scarf. In my head, I make a scarf, twist it, and sew the ends together.

I decided to check out pinterest for some quick ideas and came across the easiest, quickest, most awesome project from the blog On the Wings of a Dove (love that her post name is "Holy Crap I need a present pronto!).

The project seemed pretty simple - slip stitch and double crochet (dc) stitch are both basics but I needed a quick refresher. Lion Brand Learning Center is one of my favorite resources.

It took me a little less than 3 hours and I'm thrilled with the result. I've even made 2 more since (this was 2 sunday's ago!). Sometimes a knitting or crocheting project can be very time and labor intensive and its hard to keep going when it takes forever to see the results. This project is a great confidence booster, makes you feel so accomplished! And I got to use my new crochet hook - size N15 (10.00mm). The yarn I used was Lion Brand Tweed Stripes in Orchid, I only used one skein:

Happy Crocheting!

recommendation: organize your holiday cards

Its a new year, so of course resolutions are fresh in my mind, which is racing with organization ideas to get our house in order. One of the things I want to work on this year is doing something with my box labeled 'items to one day scrapbook.' I want to make that day come and either put them down in a book or throw them away. I bet you anything that I go through the pile and don't remember the significance of half the things I saved. Ha!

Last week I was putting away Christmas decorations (boooo) and found a stack of cards I've been saving over the years. Not every holiday card I've ever received, but cards with nice notes, that were handmade, picture cards or year in review stories. I've been saving since 2006. My friend Anne told me that she keeps a binder and when she gets a school picture or a great holiday card, she just sticks it to a piece of paper and puts it in there. Easy enough, right? I decided to tackle the project the next day. Its a very random project but if you are a pack rat like me and insist on keeping random things like this, the least you can do is keep your crap organized!

I bought binder dividers and sheet protectors at the dollar store, 2 of each so $4 total. I had a binder at home but you can buy a cheap one for probably $2-$3 (nice thick ones are really expensive!). Lastly you'll need some paper - you can use normal printing paper or 8.5 x 11 scrapbook paper - I used a little of both since I have both at home. I labeled the binder dividers by year from 2006 - 2015 and put some sheet protectors into each year and then got taping away! I used photo adhesive tabs that you can get from Michaels. One hour and about $6 later, I've finished my binder which has all my favorite cards from the past few years and a spot to put future cards.

Feeling a little more organized and a great way to start off 2012!