Living the Creative Life

I had the opportunity this month to review some Lindt Chocolates that one of my readers sells. Elizabeth Osborne, of The Young Retiree blog, wrote to me awhile back and asked if I wanted some free chocolate in exchange for a shout-out, and how could I refuse? ;D I received a variety of chocolates and they are all very delicious ! I love how creamy they are and every flavor is just as wonderful as the last. They have varieties with and without nuts (although the facilities are not separate, so none of them can be considered nut-free). They have many varieties of chocolate, including seasonal options. While I haven't tried each and every one, based on what I have tried, I would recommend anything they sell! One really cool thing that they have on the Lindt website is recipes to make with your chocolate ! Interesting, right? I really want to try this one for an Iced Mocha : ICED MOCHA Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups (600ml) milk 1 bar (3.5oz/100g each) Lindt Excellence 70%...

I highly recommend this book, French Women Don't Get Fat . French women eat very differently than American women do, generally speaking. Meaning that they lay out a plate that looks good... they choose the freshest produce that tastes and smells good... they eat slowly and savor every bite... which they pair with the finest wines. Eating is something they set out to enjoy... experience... celebrate. When was the last time you (or any typical American, for that matter) enjoyed, experienced, or celebrated your food? Thanksgiving, maybe? Definitely not every day. That would be too fattening. Wouldn't it? Maybe not. She says French women know the importance of drinking water, eating fresh, and enjoying life. They also know a "secret" that we Americans would almost call sacrilegious... less is more (as in... just because that first bite or two of chocolate cake was divine, that doesn't mean you should eat the whole thing). Drinking Water French women (and ...

Hey all you fabulous readers! I hope that you are having a wonderful Tuesday! My name is Keely and I have a special treat for you today, so make sure to thank Jennifer for letting me hang out here! You can find some more recipes over on my blog, Hairbows and Butter , hope to see you there soon! So we all know that rice krispie treats are delicious, agreed? Well I took the idea to the next level and created for you a S'mores treat (no rice krispies needed!). So these treats are made with Golden Grahams, butter, marshmallows and broken up Hershey's bars! How can we really go wrong here? Let's get to it then! S'mores treats 1 stick butter 1 1/2 bags mini marshmallows 5 cups Golden Grahams 2 Hershey's bars Wow! Only 4 ingredients! Before we get started make sure to grease a 9x9 pan, we want these babies to come out! Now, in a large sauce pan, melt the stick of butter. Once the butter is melted, add in one bag of marshmallows, and stir, stir...

I found the most amazing strawberry jello dessert recipe this weekend. We had a pre-Thanksgiving potluck at church, so this was my contribution. It was such a good recipe that I think I'll have to make it for my family's Thanksgiving meal this coming week! Strawberry Jello Dessert 8 ozs strawberry gelatin 2 cups boiling water 16 ozs pineapple (crushed) 20 ozs strawberries (frozen, thawed) 2 cups miniature marshmallows 8 ozs whipped topping (dairy) 4 ozs cream cheese (softened) 1/2 cup nuts 1/2 cup maraschino cherry 1.  Put gelatin into a 9x13 inch pan. 2.  Pour boiling water into the gelatin. Stir until dissolved. 3.  Add pineapple (w/ juice) and thawed strawberries. Stir. 4.  Sprinkle marshmallows on top until they cover the gelatin. 5. Refrigerate...

This past weekend I made strawberry jam!! It's super easy. :) First you take a whole bunch of strawberries, de-stem them, and rinse them off. I bought three little baskets of them at the Farmer's Market  and used two of them for the jam. Next you mash them up with a potato masher. That's the fun part! :) The recipe then called for 4 cups of sugar, which seemed like a lot at the time, but now that I've tasted the jam, it's just right - not too sweet. I used cane sugar, but you could use refined white sugar if you'd rather. You then need to stir pectin into boiling water for like a minute or three. It was non-stop stirring for that part so I didn't have a chance to take a picture. After that, you stir the pectin/water combo into the jam until it's all stirred in. Lastly, put it in canning jars, put the lids on, and let sit on the table for 24 hours. This is freezer jam, so no need to actually do the canning process on these jars. A...

I've been trying really, really hard to eat better these days, mainly because I know it's important for my health and will make me feel better both now and in the long run. To accommodate this goal, I've been leaning into a vegan diet. While I don't always make it, on the days that I do, I really do feel great! There's just something about fresh produce that invigorates you. I always knew I felt bogged down and sluggish before, but never realized it was because of the food I ate. I do also allow myself to "cheat" every now and then. I'm not on a diet, per say, I just want to learn how to eat REAL FOOD, and so, as with any change, there are bound to be times when I just really want what feels familiar. That's when I grab the Cheetos or the butter-flavored movie-theatre popcorn, have a taste, enjoy it, and then move on. Most days though, real food actually tastes better, satisfies my soul, and gives me so much energy that I forget that it came out ...

Michelle, over at Oh Mishka, put up an awesome smoothie recipe the other day that I just had to try!! You can make it any way you like, but here's what I do: Banana-Spinach Smoothie 3/4 cup orange juice 3/4 cup soy milk 2 handfuls of baby spinach 1 banana 1 handful of frozen blueberries ----- Start with a clean blender (this should go without saying) . Add orange juice and soy milk (I don't measure it - just pour in a bit of each) . Add 2 handfuls of baby spinach (or whatever deep green leaves you have on hand) . Blend this up until the leaves are unrecognizable. Add fruit: banana, blueberries, whatever else you want. Blend again. Pour into a glass and enjoy! (I promise you can't taste the spinach.)

I made the most amazing HEALTHY pizza tonight! I was shocked. Carrot-onion pizza. I know, sounds awesome, right? Okay I've had a cold/viral-infestation for about 2 weeks on and off now, so I went to the store to stock up on some fruits and veggies (nature's medicine!). While there, I realized I had most of the ingredients for pizza sauce in my cart (thank you for enlightening me, Jamie Oliver !). So... pizza it was. Of course when I got home, I realized I didn't actually have any toppings in the fridge. Time to get creative. Normally I stick to a recipe like glue, but I was feeling oddly brave, so I grabbed what I had and made due. Hence... carrot-onion pizza. It really did turn out amazing. I promise! Tomato Pizza Sauce INGREDIENTS 4 vine-ripened tomatoes, blanched and quartered 6 TB olive oil 1 yellow onion, quartered 4 cloves garlic, smashed 4 oz container of organic, fresh basil leaves (a large bunch) salt pepper DIRECTIONS Remove the skins from ev...

The other day, I started reading this book about vegan eating, mainly to satisfy my curiosity about what it was. The main thing I couldn't figure out (before I started reading about it) was... what exactly do they eat, if they don't eat meat, dairy, or eggs?? That's like... 90% of my current diet. They can't possibly survive on salad, can they? I found this book called  Veganist , and it's totally interesting. She talks a lot about the health benefits of eating vegan, as well as the moral issues (which I'm not totally sure I'm buying, but whatever). Anyway, now I know what a vegan eats: Vegetables! Beans! Nuts! Fruit! Whole wheat bread! Brown rice! It actually started making me hungry just reading about all the stuff they eat that I never think to eat. Way better than salad, for sure. I did a test on myself to see if I could make a vegan meal, based only on what was in my refrigerator at the time. It was easier than I thought. I made a sandwich with w...