Pesto, Breakfast Granola, and Pastry's, Oh my!

Let's start out with a healthy breakfast ... I don't know about you, but for me I have a hard time eating a breakfast that's early and healthy. Unless it's pancakes, Bojangles, or a venti dark roast Starbucks and  blueberry scone, a cool 400+ calories. I've really tried in recent months, especially during the summer with all the local fruits that are available, to eat smart and most importantly healthy.

Fage greek yogurt, cranberries, and granola

One thing I particularly love in the summer is granola, fage greek yogurt, for it's high protein per serving, and fruit. I've made granola so many times, and many different ways. Here's a basic recipe that you can use and modify, nuts, dried fruits, and seasoning (i.e. cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.) as you wish. I also add in wheatgerm to my granola for it's vitamins and added fiber.

I've made, coconut and dried blueberries; cinnamon, dried cranberries and pecans; dried apples, pie spice, and almonds. All of which were really good. Homemade granola makes an awesome gift for the holidays too. So stick that in your stockin' and thank me later.

Movin' on to dinner. I just love pesto. Love. Love! There's just nothing better than a bowl of fresh pasta with home made pesto - no meat required. I typically make it from scratch mid-summer to clear off my basil bushes. I try to grow my own every year. Depending on how hot and dry our summers are here my basil plants are usually dry stalks by July ... bummer!

Chevron painted terracotta basil pots

Homemade basil pesto

The basil recipe I use is super easy, and in some cases when I make it I don't have pine nuts in the freezer, I'll use almonds or pecans. All of which are equally as good. I add all of these ingredients to a food processor and pulse until well blended. Some like it more rustic and chunky, which you can achieve by chopping with a large chefs knife. I prefer easy, so I stick with the food processor to do all of the work for me.

• a large bunch of basil
• 1 cup parmesan
• 1 cup pine nuts
• 2 to3 cloves garlic
• a few pours of EVOO (add more to get the consistency you're looking for) 

Alright, now that we've had dinner, let's skip to dessert. I'll disclose another one of my favorite Durham sandwich shops (and bakery - yes a major plus in my book) Madhatter Bakeshope and Cafe. I LOVE this place as it too is a farm to table cafe making everything down to the mayo from scratch. The chicken salad is my personal favorite, but right now is more about the deserts. They have an awesome spread of sweetness. You can have them make you a cake for special occasion too. I've never had one, but they look amaze!

I conservatively opted to get a salad for lunch and then treat myself to all of these lovely deserts. Actually, a friend got a few and affectionately let me try them.

From the top clockwise: Cheese danish, cream cheese brownie, snickerdoodle, and the remains of the best coconut cookie I've EVER had. It was gooey, crunchy, semi-sweet, and full of texture from the coconut. My second favorite was the cheese danish, which I had for breakfast the following day. Hello delicious, yet unhealthy breakfast. Whatever, it was so good. The other two were so so. Not good enough for me to wear on my hips for a few days ...

cheese danish

Looking at this photo now, makes me realize how HUGE this danish was. It literally looks like the size of my head, it was not, but had it been I would've eaten it all too. This beast was good. 

And another favorite lunch spot of mine is relatively new to the RTP area, Page Rd. Grill - owned by Chapel Hill Restaurant Group. They have quite the repertoire of restaurants under their belt, like MEZ, another one of their wonderful eateries here in RTP. They hands down have the best guac I've ever eaten. The tamales are wonderful, trio of salsas are fantastic, and they have really good churros for desert. Mmm K, I digress ... back to Page Road Grill - lunch menu.

Turkey Ruben

look at all that turkey and kraut

Blackened Fish Sandwich and house made chips

They were good sandwiches, and the place has a nice atmosphere. We sat on the patio, but they also have small conference rooms for small groups that want to have lunch meetings. They've really created a place here to work with the RTP corporate customer.

They too use local ingredients like chapel hill creamery for their cheese, etc. It amazes me the number of local restaurants that use local ingredients. It really makes the dining out experience that much more exciting for me. I mean I can go pick up a round of Chapel Hill Creamery's dairyland farmers cheese and make a caprese salad just like the appetizer at Page Road Grill. It gives me a chance to experiment and find things that I like and attempt to recreate at home.

Until next time peeps!
xoxo

Pappasito's Cantina Sweetness

This place by far is the most sha-mazing tex-mex this side of the Mississippi! (It's not often I have the chance to write/type/say Mississippi) By 'this place' I am refering to Pappasito's Cantina. Located in Atlanta Georgia, and many other locations in Texas, I would offer this company my entire yearly salary to open on in North Carolina. I'm serious!

As mentioned in previous posts, the hubs and I have friends that live in Atlanta. So when we're there visiting Pappasito's is guaranteed stop on our vacay.

Unfortunately, on our last trip there I was so excited to be there, I failed to snap many photos. The most important thing on their menu, in my opinion is BY FAR ... the warm salsa. It is smack yo mama good stuff! And yes I said (intentionally) warm salsa, and when I say warm I mean temperature warm. It's mildly spicy, smokey, and comes with super thin salty chips for dipping. I mean good gosh darn-it I want some now! If they'd let me buy it by the five gallon drum I would.

I've searched high and low on the internet for a copykat recipe. I've even emailed their corporate office with a response back that went a little like, "while we appreciate your interest in our company, Pappasito's salsa recipe is trademark of the company and can not be given out."I can't say I was surprised, but a girl can dream!

I did find a recipe that seems the most true to taste, although I've not tried it ... here.

For dinner I ordered the Pappasito's grill, which was a skewer of mesquite-grilled beef & chicken fajitas, bacon-wrapped shrimp & vegetables with pineapple pico de gallo. Both sides of the plate come with flavored butters for dipping. One butter was a white wine butter that I would've poured over my body and gladly licked off. So good!

... and after all that butter and meat and SALSA someone felt herculean enough to order the tres leches. I'm not really into mushy deserts, like bread puddings, but after one suggestion to try it (and ignoring the 'I'm full' signal from my brain) and dove in for a bit. It was divine. I would eat some right now. Moving on ...

If you're ever in the Atlanta metro area, more specifically near Smyrna, Ga. stop in for a quick bit to eat. The place is amaze balls!

Hey, you may even have the chance to meet a very popular waitress who sings. She too is amaze balls!

Some sweetness for your face

Yup, I said sweetness for your face, and now you're wondering what's this sweetness for your face? You're in luck! Feast your eyes on a list of my favorites!

This post is a whole lot a sharring, but really more of a wishlist for me to share with the hubs for our upcoming (one year) anniversary and Christmas. #justsayin'

So I'll start off with sharing my total guilty (youtube) pleasure ... Jaclyn Hill. Woah, that just got a little weird.

This chick is some kinda funny! Not to mention her make up and hair tutorials are amazing. I can't take my eyes off of every one of her videos. And I'm way jealous of her massive MASSIVE amounts of Mac make up and sigma brushes. After watching many of her tutorials, I've amassed a long list of things I've personally tried and things I want to try.

Some other you tube favorites are MakeupbyAlli, Nicole Guerriero and Carli Bybel. Check these ladies out!

Have Used:
Sigma Essential Brush Kit – here
Loreal Magic Lumi Highlighter – here
Ben Nye Bella Luxury Powder (Banana powder) – here
Elf eyebrow kit – here
Beauty Blender Sponge – here
Benefit Cosmetics Hoola – here

Other things I’ve used and mentioned in previous posts can be found here in my BirchBox review. 

Want to Try:
SOLEIL TAN DE CHANEL – here
theBalm® Mary-Lou Manizer – here
theBalm® Schwing black liquid eyeliner – here
Milani luminoso blush – here / or here
Benefit Cosmetics Hoola – here
OCC Lip Tar (Obcessive Compulsive Cosmetics) – here
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz – here
Mac Fix + setting spray – here
Mac Prowear Concealer – here

Beauty Blender Solid Sponge Cleanser – here

Urban Decay Naked Palate – here
Sigma Resort Palate – here
BH Cosmetics Eye Palette – here and here

Sigma Brushes

via

here

via

Do not use: things I've used with horrible results ...
Elf makeup remover wipes – here (my whole face broke out in welts) #nobueno

So, what are the things you're dieing to try? What's on your wish list? Any recommendations of your own?  Do tell ...

xoxo

About Me

• I grew up in Garner, North Carolina, but spent most of my younger and now older years, relishing anything out doors in and around Kerr Lake.

via

• I’ve recently acquired a taste for craft beer, which I enjoy. I could however, do without the hangover.
  
• I graduated my alma mater, Meredith College, in 2004 with a degree in Graphic Arts. All that to say that I cannot spell worth a lick, and Google everything, but hey, who doesn’t?

Meredith College

• I have a love hate relationship with make-up. I love buying and applying, but hate wearing it.
• I have two beloved valley bulldogs, Bentley Parker (a.k.a. bit bit, tinky, tink-tink) and Mercedes (a.k.a. Meme, Sadie, princess peepee pants).

Bentley (Left) & Mercedes (Right)

• Not a huge fan of movies, I can’t sit still long enough.
• I have an eclectic taste in music. I love electronic, DJ, to AC/DC, Def Leppard, to John Mayer and Ray Lamontagne. Anything really outside of country.
• I enjoy long walks on the beach. I mean, who doesn’t.
• I’ve been wakeboarding for 12+ years … and all I know how to do is jump the wake. True story!
• I have an uncanny ability to identify rare expensive cars. I have no idea where that comes from.
• Bad teeth and breath really bother me.
• Daniel Tosh and Dane Cook are hilarious!
• I am the world’s worse procrastinator! I would put off purchasing a guaranteed lottery win to quickly vacuum the living room.
• I must go to Italy before I die.

• "Champagne taste on a beer budget" is my mantra.

• I consider my basic black, red bottom, Christian Louboutin shoes my life’s achievement.

 

• I ordered a set of four metal straws because Oprah uses them.
• The best thing I’ve ever eaten, EVER, would have to be a pecan praline from River Street Sweets.

River Street Sweets

• No matter how much I am well aware that running and going to the gym feels good, I have daily conversations with myself about why I shouldn’t go today.

xoxo

Friday's sweet tooth confession

I mean, for a blog to be named confessions from a sweet tooth, I've posted very little that's sweet to the taste buds.

Cacao, Atlanta, a Bean-To-Bar hand made chocolate, candy, coffee, sweet shop that induces drunk like, black out state of mind after entering. Little did I know after leaving the store, I had ordered one of everything. Just kidding' kids! My pockets aren't that deep. Moving on ... so I'd heard about this place while watching an episode of Big Rich Atlanta. I love those blond haired momma moochers, Harvin and Meyer. They'd met at one of the Cacao locations in Atlanta and I thought, hey maybe if I visit Atlanta next time and go to Cacao, I could potentially run into these mamma moochers. No such luck, but I did score some awesome confections.

Fleur de sel caramels

 

Dark, Milk, and White Chocolate bark

And my favorite was the Parisian macarons. They were out of the tiramisu, but I got the pistachio, lemon blueberry, strawberry, and hazelnut with chocolate ganache.

I also got a mix of their popular hand made truffles. I had the PB&J, Lavender Blueberry, Pecan Pie, hazelnut gianduja, and pecan penuche. Hands down the pecan penuche, which I don't have a clue what penuche means, was my fav! So good! You can also order them online here.They're a bit on the expensive side, but it's not like you're buying a Reese Cup. Besides chocolate, good chocolate, is expensive and absolutely worth it. 

Keep in mind, this place for Christmas, birthday, or any other special holiday. These chocolate truffles, or any of their other confections, would make a great gift for the chocolate lover in your life. 

http://cacaoatlanta.com/collections/truffles

They number these truffles so that you can pick from a list of descriptions and choose by number - very cool way of distinguishing the different flavors.

Don't you just love how this place is decorated? I just love the bistro tables and chairs. 

Umm K, back to North Carolina and cool place for a summer time sweet treat. Head on over to Durham and visit the Parlor (preferably on nights when there isn't a Durham Bulls game going on) and grab a scoop of their fabulous homemade ice cream. Side note: do try the homemade ginger ale. It's the bom dot com. I loved it so much I went home and tried to make it myself. Their version was way better. 

Buttered Pecan in homemade waffle cone

The salted butter caramel was pretty darn good too, but I love nuts in ice cream. True story!

One last thing, not sweet related. Fall's right around the corner, which means it's just about time to start popping open my favorite seasonal Punk'n beer. If you've not yet tried it you should and now's the time to get it. Don't do what I did and wait until mid fall to try and get it ... major fail.

The hubs surprised me with it a few weeks back. I've already enjoyed a six pack, moving on to the next six pack this weekend. I'm tellin' ya, go get it!

For next week, I'll share my shrimp and fish taco with cilantro, lime, parmesan cheese orzo recipes. For now, you can feast your eyes on the finished product.

Enjoy your weekend folks!

xoxo

Things I'm currently loving

Tufted headboards ... I've always wanted to make one for myself, but never had the time or the man power. Here were some of my inspirations.

Meredith Heron Design

My Bedroom Inspiration - Southliving

I finally gave it a try, after following Dream Book Design's instructions, a trip to Lowe's for supplies, and Joann's for white linen fabric and buttons, this beauty was made.

Obviously I have some painting touch ups to do, but I'm pretty in love with the way this turned out.

I'm also in love with these glass orb light fixtures and wingback chair with nail head trim I found in a furniture store in Atlanta. The light fixture would look amazing in my entry way. I was too scared to look at the price tags, but I'm pretty sure they weren't within my budget.

You know, speaking of wingback chairs, I really love the more modern wingback. The wingback in general is making a comeback, moving away from the stuffy traditional look and I can't get enough of it. The one I found below on overstock is on sale right now and I'd really like for two of them to be mine!

Also while I was in Atlanta a few months back, we made some time to visit the Jonathan Adler store. This man has made his millions in pottery and hilarious home goods. He's even got a line at JCPenny right now. I can't get enough of his loud patterns, bright colors, and play on words. If I could ever find my money tree or hit the lottery I would fill my house to the brim like a hoarder with Jonathan Adler chotchkies.

I mean how fabulous is the boob vase and light fixture ... Umm fab-u-lous! These sleek navy painted wall and white furniture couldn't be more, shall we say, fabulous, and make such a dramatic impact.

 There goes the tufted headboard again ... I just can't get enough.

... Now these 'Hashish' candles embelished with a maple leaf smelled like a mix between tree hugger who's skipped 2 or 3 weeks worth of bathing and patchouli. The candle name made me laugh, the smell made me want to cry!

Enough of 'just can't get enough' favorites. What are you currently loving on right now? And hey, for the love of God, keep it clean.

xoxo

Birchbox reviews

I would like to start out by saying that I LOVE my monthly Birchbox subscription I get in the mail. It's $10 a subscription that you can cancel any time, and quite frankly, the hubs has a monthly beer subscription and I get monthly make-up samples. I say it's a win win!

So I go to the mailbox on the day it's suppose to arrive and do an Indian rain dance when I see the popular pink box shinning like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day ...

 

 This Birchback from back in June was one of my favorites. Although I've had a few months in a row with favorites. I loved the Nick Chavez color saver sulfate-free shampoo. It really gave my hair a soft texture without the the super soft limp feeling. I hate that after having just washed my hair.

I also loved the blueberry scented Whish shaving cream too. It smelled amazing, but also kept me from breaking out.

This December Birchbox came with three things I'd never heard of and loved all three products equally as much. Miss Jesse's Pillow Soft Curls does amazing things to my hair, but most importantly it leaves my hair curly without the crunch. For those of you with curly hair you know what I'm talking about!  I also loved the Nuxe Reve de Miel dry cuticle and hand cream. This lotion smelled amazing, but it also really hydrated my hands in the winter months. And last, but certainly not least, the ModelCo Shine, in Berry Pink, will be a permanent staple in my purse make up bag. There's also a mirror attached to the outside of the gloss tube! I mean really, why aren't they all doing this? Sheesh!

Here's some other products I currently loving on that i purchased from Ulta ...

NYX: Doll Eye Mascara in black (Here)
The wand on this mascara is perfect for me, and I love the way it looks after two to three coats. It covers but doesn't clump.

NYX: Butter Gloss in Peach Cobbler, Creme Brulee, Eclair (Here)
The Peach Cobbler would have to be my favorite of the colors I bought. I'm really into the orangy/red colors right now. The color really makes my blue eyes pop.

Kardashian Kroma: Joystick Lip Lacquer in Nude Beach (Here)
These smelled amazing and the Nude Beach gives you neutral color like what the Kardashian's are known for, without washing you out. I wouldn't recommend this for some skin tones, but you can always return to products to Ulta you don't like for a refund.

Mirenesse Glossy Kiss in Flirty Kiss

 ... what are the colors and brands you're currently crushing on? Do tell!

xoxo