Summer Garbanzo Bean Salad

I'm always on the hunt for easy and healthy lunch items to bring to the office, one can only eat so many turkey sandwiches and tossed salads. When I stumbled across this garbanzo salad recipe I knew I needed to give it a whirl. The ingredients are all so fresh (and pretty too) a perfect summer lunch for the office or even a picnic! 

Summer Garbanzo Bean Salad

original recipe found via 

2 cans garbonzo beans ( rinsed and drained )

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

1/2 red onion, diced

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cup feta cheese

1 tbsp italian seasoning

3 tbsp (give or take) lemon juice

2 tbsp (give or take) lime juice

1/4 cup olive oil

4 tbsp red wine vinegar 

salt, and pepper to taste

Mix olive oil, garlic,lemon, lime, vinegar and spices, whisk until well combined, set aside.

Place rinsed beans, peppers, cucumber, onion and feta cheese in large bowl. Pour over bean salad.

Would be great served with pita bread, or add grilled chicken. 

PS- I'm taking my first Pure Barre class tonight, wish me luck and pray I make it out alive!

4th of July Weekend

I have now been welcomed back to reality by "Monday" after a wonderful and much needed 4 day 4th of July holiday weekend! We definitely kept ourselves busy but we got to catch up with some of good friends and enjoy a couple days off. Now can I please have a day to recover from the weekend?

Wednesday night we went and saw the movie "The Heat" - I love Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock usually, so I was really excited to see them team up. They did NOT disappoint! While the plot line may have been a little predictable the comedy was definitely entertaining and kept me laughing, even Chris said "yeah it was pretty good" which means it was awesome (kinda). 

On the morning of the 4th of July I was gifted with a delicious surprise, CINNAMON BUNS! My friend Allison had made this recipe but failed to realize that it made about 75 rolls - lucky for me, I was a benefactor of this oversight. If you are looking for a homemade cinnamon roll recipe (and who DOESN'T love a good bun), give this one a try, I think she even had enough to freeze and save for later. Thanks Al for the yummy treat! 

We spent the rest of the afternoon poolside, and then headed to a cookout at my friend Amanda's parents house. Their neighbors smuggle the big fireworks across the border and put on a show for the neighborhood. All of us (minus Parker - the bigger they are the harder they fall) really enjoyed it, we even managed to dodge the rain. I brought my "go to" recipe - Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

Tri Color Rotini

Mini Pepperoni

String Cheese (or other block mozzarella)

Cherry tomatoes (optional)

Green peppers

creamy caesar salad dressing

zesty italian salad dressing

Directions:

Cook rotini noodles to al dente, drain and rinse with cold water

cube string cheese and dice green peppers

combine all ingredients and add a 2:1 ratio of italian dressing and creamy caesar -  stir until noodles are well coated

cover and refrigerate for several hours, add a splash of italian dressing before serving

On Saturday we made a little day trip to Durham to help our good friends Chris and Lauren pack and prepare for their upcoming move.  Lucky for us we only had to work a little bit and then got to spend the rest of the day hanging out. We hit the pool until the boys got bored, 15 minutes in, went to a local brewery Lonerider and ended the evening with a boatload (literally) of sushi. We always love spending time with these two and wish we lived closer so we could see them more often.

Sunday we packed up the pup and went to see our friend Shannon at her house on Lake Tillery. We spent the afternoon catching up and watching the dogs swim. Parker is a little fish and its just so much fun to watch him in his element.

We had a great weekend hopping around NC, spending time with great friends and celebrating the 4th. I can't believe how fast this year is flying by!

Beauty Buy: Wet Brush

As "they" say, the grass is always greener on the other side. If you have blonde hair you want brunette hair, if you have curly hair you want straight, well i'm here to tell you I have the worst of all hair worlds. I have fine hair, but a lot of it, I have waves but not enough to look cute when it air dries, and worst of all my hair tangles like the dickens (yes I just said dickens), especially when its wet. 

Now ever since I worked at the hair salon 5 years ago - don't want to talk about it - I've had the same hair brush and never really thought about exploring new options, my theory "if it aint broke dont fix it." But this past weekend during my routine once a year hair appointment (what can I say, I'm cheap), I was introduced to a product that has changed my world (its only been 4 days but so far so good). 

The Wet Brush

Yes, it may look like an ordinary paddle brush, but my friends, it is NOT. This little guy can comb through the tangliest of wet locks and glide right through as if I had left the conditioner in my hair. I do not know its secret, all I know is that I am no longer losing chunks of hair as I try to rip through the knots. If you're like me and your hair is a hot mess after a shower, give this product a try. You will NOT regret it.

Dip it

This weekend I tried out yet another Pinterest recipe and boy was it a hit! Seriously, I don't think I've ever made something that got such rave reviews, and it was super easy too! I served it with fresh cucumber slices and warm flatbread and they were the perfect pairing for this delicious summer appetizer

I wish I had taken a picture of my own dip but trust me, it looked the same

Lemon and feta dip

8oz feta cheese, crumbled

Zest + Juice of (1) large lemon
1 clove minced garlic
6 tablespoons olive oil+ extra for serving
cracked pepper for topping

Place feta, lemon zest and juice, garlic and olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. 

(personally I think a food processor will work best, but work with what ya got)
Spoon into a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper

Dig in! 

(original recipe and photo credit linked to image)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

So I think its pretty clear that I'm not the world's best blogger. While I do consider myself pretty social media savvy thanks to my position at work, I'm still new to the blogging game. I kept hearing things about how google reader was going to be no more and that I would need to find a new way to keep up with all my blogs. Personally I never really used google reader, I followed my blogs in the worst way possible, typing the URL in and hoping my cookies would remember the exact address - lame I know, I mean am I 50 yrs old and don't know how to use word processor?

Enter Bloglovin I can put any and all blogs that I follow on this one site and even be notified on my toolbar when the blogs I follow have new posts. Even better I can now clear my browsing history so my boss can't see what I look at during my lunch break (HA more like all day). So if you're slow on the uptake like I am, check it out, and be sure to follow my blog - you can click on the headline "follow my blog with bloglovin" to go straight there!